Vasai

Vasai (Konkani and Marathi pronunciation: [ʋəsəi]; Portuguese: Baçaim; British English: Bassein; formerly and alternatively Marathi; Bajipur) is a historical place and city located in the Palghar district; it was partitioned out of the Thane district in August 2014. It also forms a part of the Vasai-Virar twin cities in the Konkan division, Maharashtra, India, and comes under the police jurisdiction of the Mira-Bhayander, Vasai-Virar Police Commissionerate. The Portuguese in Goa and Damaon built Fort Bassein to defend their colony and participate in the lucrative spice trade and the silk route that converged in the area. Much of Portuguese Bombay and Bassein was seized by Marathas under Peshwa rule, at the Battle of Vasai in 1739. The British East India Company at Bombay then took the area from the Maratha Empire in 1780, following the First Anglo-Maratha War.