The Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts of the Bombay Presidency from the Earliest Historical Times to the Musalman Conquest c7.s9.51

c7.s9.51

The Maráthás however seem to have made as good arrangements as were practicable for the defence of their new possessions and the protection of their subjects. In 1760 the fort of Bassein was in good repair and the gate on the south-east had been closed. The fort at Dáhánu had just been repaired in order to protect the inhabitants against the pirates. The fort at Tárápur was also repaired and a new fort was being built at Kelva.¹ As to their treatment of their subjects other than Hindus mention has been already made of their tolerance towards the Christians of Sálsette and Bassein. Towards the Musalmáns of the North Konkan their conduct was equally praiseworthy. The Portuguese had allowed no kázis in their territory, but Báláji Bájiráv re-established the office, bestowing it apparently on Musalmáns who had done service to the Maráthás, and endowing it with ináms. He made the kázi of Trombay the head of all those in the North Konkan, the kázis of Kalyán Bhiwndi and other places being his náibs. Similarly, though probably dating from earlier times, the kázi of Thal was the head of those in the present Kolába district. The condition of Sálsette in 1760 is said to have been such that it was full of villages almost all Christian and returned to the cultivators of its soil more than twenty-four lákhs of rupees a year.¹ This must have been an exaggeration, but it is likely that the toleration in religion shown to the inhabitants of whatever creed made them endure without much complaining the additional taxes which the Maráthás imposed immediately after the conquest.