The Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts of the Bombay Presidency from the Earliest Historical Times to the Musalman Conquest c7.s7.80

c7.s7.80

After this the Portuguese had full possession of the creek and the kingdoms both of Bijápur and Ahmadnagar were now too near extinction to give them serious trouble. Yet in 1609 the Musalmán governor in Chaul sent out a fleet of thirty prows to cruise against the Portuguese, and the latter could get no redress from the Ahmadnagar government.⁴ This last event may be taken as illustrating the view of the Portuguese historians, that as the period up to 1560 was the infancy of their power in India, and from 1560 to 1600 its manhood, so from 1600 its decline began.⁵ And as their rise had been rapid and their success marvellous, so their decline began early and was unchecked. After the beginning of the seventeenth century no more is heard of aggression or acquisition on their part, and they appear to have owed the retention of the territory they had to the forbearance or the dissensions of their neighbours. The few events in which they took part after this will be mentioned in the history of their struggles with the Dutch in the next section and in the account of the Maráthás. But it is necessary now to give some description of the way in which the Portuguese managed their possessions in the Konkan and of the causes which led to their decline and resulted in their losing this part of the coast.