Vasai-Virar

Vasai-Virar is a city in Maharashtra state in western India. It is located in Thane District, 50 km north of Mumbai. The city is located on the north bank of Vasai Creek, part of the estuary of the Ulhas River. The city is an agglomeration of several formerly separate towns, including Vasai, Virar, and the ancient city of Sopara. Vasai-Virar has three stations, Vasai Road, Nala Sopara, and Virar, on the Mumbai suburban railway's Western Railway railway line.

History

The town of Sopara was center of the Indian Ocean trade going in Roman times, but its harbour has since silted up. Trade shifted to Vasai, which traded in horses, fish, salt, timber, and quarried basalt and granite, and was a shipbuilding center. Vasai came under the control of the Sultans of Gujarat in the 15th century. The Portuguese attacked the city in 1528, and captured it in 1532. The city, known to the Portuguese as Baçaim, became the center of Portuguese India's Northern Province, which included a string of Portuguese settlements extending almost 100 km along the coast and in some places 30-50 km inland. Other settlements in the Northern Province included Daman, Mahim, Thane, Kalyan, Salsette, Bombaim (Bombay), and Chaul.
In the second half of 16th century the Portuguese enclosed the town in a new fortress wall with 10 bastions. The city reached the height of its prosperity at the end of the 17th century. During the 18th century, the city was eclipsed by nearby Bombay, which had been ceded to the British in 1661, and shortly thereafter became the headquarters of the British East India Company in India. The Marathas captured Kalyan in 1720, and in 1737 they captured Thane and Salsette Island from the Portuguese. The other Portuguese settlements in the northern province were captured in 1738-39, and in February 1739, the Maratha General Chimnaji Appa laid siege to Baçaim, which capitulated on 16 May 1739.

The British captured Salsette and Baçaim, which they called Bassein, from the Marathas in 1774, at the start of the First Anglo-Maratha War. The Treaty of Bassein was concluded between the Marathas and the British East India Company on December 31, 1802, which left the British in possession of Bassein.

The Great Indian Peninsular (GIP) (present Central Railway) and the Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway (BB&CI) (present Western Railway) were built through Vasai-Virar in 1860, and regular rail service started in 1869. The first electric locomotives first started operating on the line in 1927. Three stations on the Mumbai Suburban Railway serve the town, Vasai Road, Nala Sopara, and Virar. The region has seen a building boom since the 1980's, including the expansion of branch plants and offices from Mumbai. The land development boom has resulted in the loss of much of the region's wetlands and forest cover.

Visit this site for more updates in this region http://www.vasaivirar.com