The Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts of the Bombay Presidency from the Earliest Historical Times to the Musalman Conquest c7.s8.123

c7.s8.123

The chief remains of the Portuguese are at Bassein and lower Chaul, now known by its old Hindu name of Revdanda. These are large walled towns, but the fortifications generally have little appearance of strength. At Bassein the line of the streets can be traced, and many lofty buildings, principally churches, remain. These are “of considerable size but mean architecture, though they are striking from the lofty proportions usual in Roman Catholic places of worship, and from the singularity of Christian and European ruins in India.”³ There is now a high road through the middle of the city which prevents it from being utterly desolate; on the north side there is a large space without any ruins, owing no doubt to the plague which towards the end of the seventeenth century is said to have unpeopled one-third of the city on that side.² The ruins of Revdanda are similar but on a smaller scale, and from the space within the walls being entirely occupied by cocoanut gardens they can be seen less favourably than the Bassein ruins. The main walls are nearly entire, those on the north side being far the strongest, and having been protected, in its whole length apparently, by an outwork which has now mostly fallen into the sea. The present main entrance facing nearly south and with the citadel just inside it is probably the original entrance.⁴