Shivaji and His Times c12.s1.2

c12.s1.2

An Abyssinian colony had settled here in the 15th century. One of them secured the governorship of Danda-Rajpuri under the Sultans of Ahmadnagar. But the dissolution of that monarchy and the situation of the district on the extreme frontier of the State beyond the Western Ghats, made it easy for the Siddi to establish himself in practical independence of the central authority, so that, when the partition treaty of 1636 gave the west coast to Bijapur, that Government recognized the Siddi chief as its representative in the district, gave him the title of a *wazir*, and added to his charge the whole seaboard from Nagothna to Bankot, on condition of his protecting Bijapur trade and Mecca pilgrims at sea.