The Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts of the Bombay Presidency from the Earliest Historical Times to the Musalman Conquest c7.s4.68

c7.s4.68

the end of the eighth century. It is certain that after living for some years at Diu they first settled on the continent of India at Sanján, now an utterly insignificant village, but which is believed then to have extended nearly to the sea coast.¹ Here they were permitted to settle by the Rána, who is called Jáde, and whom Dr. Wilson believes to have been Jayadeva, a chief subordinate to the Rajput kings of Chámpáner or Pátan. In the next three hundred years they were dispersed through Hindustán; but the places mentioned as receiving them are all north of Sanján, which agrees with the present facts of their settlements, for it is about Dáhánu, twenty miles south of Sanján, that Pársis begin to be found in considerable numbers, and not merely as settlers for purposes of trade. Tárápur, ten miles south of Dáhánu, has also a large settlement of Parsis; but Kalyán is the only place south of that where their settlement is believed to be of earlier date than the British occupation of Bombay. Nargol, at the mouth of the Sanján creek, is still one of their largest villages, but Sanján itself does not now contain a single Pársi resident.