The Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts of the Bombay Presidency from the Earliest Historical Times to the Musalman Conquest c7.s8.289

c7.s8.289

It does not appear that this destruction of the Portuguese power in India was much regarded by the Portuguese in Europe. In 1744 the King in giving orders to a new Viceroy said scarcely anything about recovering the lost territories except that opportunities were to be watched, but gave minute and particular orders as to commerce, and suggested that the artisans of Thána should be induced to settle in Goa.⁷ On two subsequent occasions however the Portuguese made some show of vigour. In 1756 the Maráthás under the influence of Sadáshivráv Bháu had resolved to take Goa. To anticipate them in this the Portuguese Viceroy attacked the Marátha districts near Goa but was defeated and killed.⁸ His attack had however the effect of putting an end to the hostilities of the Maráthás. In 1774 the Portuguese Government provoked by the capture of one of their forty-gun ships by the Maráthás determined in revenge to take not only their old province of the North but also Gheria and Suvarndurg, and for this purpose large reinforcements were sent from Europe. The only result was that the Bombay Government in order to forestall them took Thána.