Towards the northwest of Salsette island (Sashti or 66 villages in Marathi), a friar, Antonio Puerto approached a couple of yogis inhabiting a cave, attempting in vain, to either vacate the cave or convert to Christianity. Despite repeated attempts, the yogis were steadfast in their belief and eventually, the friars built a small chapel over the Hindu cave. After regular visits, one of the yogis relented, and with him, the entire village converted. The friar’s machination included convincing the Portuguese King to give the land over to the yogi, so upon his death, he would—and he did—will it to the church.

You’d be hard-pressed to hear such a detailed story, but Portuguese-Indian archaeologist and historian Sidh Mendiratta is full of them. The 31-year-old, part of a research team in Portugal, called Bombay before the British (BB), which proposes that the British established their occupation on the network of little towns, forts and roads created during the 16th and 17th centuries by the Portuguese. “Most people look at the growth of Mumbai as chaotic or that the urban sprawl happened because of the railway lines,” says Mendiratta.

Funded by the Fundação Para a Ciência e Tecnologia, the team of researchers consisting of a multi-disciplinary team of architectural historians, historians and geographers worked on the construction of a geo-referenced database, using contemporary satellite photography to work and cross- reference. They traced the history of 400 villages with the help of records dating back to 1720, satellite images and Google Earth. “They even had a small militia for each village,” says Mendiratta. Ironically, the findings have yet to be presented in Mumbai.

Another fascinating aspect of the study is Vasai’s reputation as the first planned European city in India, rarely the stuff of coffee-shop conversation. “Vasai has huge potential to be the leading site for archaeologists from across the world. So of the past much is still there. In fact, I’m pretty sure American and European archaeologists would work for free,” he says. Tales of the ancestral spirits and Bollywood’s penchant for Vasai as a prime shooting location have kept the ruins intact, he believes.

Mendiratta adds that the history of the Portuguese territory of Bombay was prolonged until the 1920s and ’30s, through a magnanimous British gesture in 1838. “In the surrender of Vasai fort, under siege for two years, the Portuguese were allowed eight days to leave with their arms. However, since the Portuguese had no ships left to take them home, they were transported by the British, via Bombay. Along with the soldiers, several wealthy Portuguese families also made their way out,” he narrates. “These immigrants, after 1850, established themselves in the former Portuguese settlements, improving their urban character and conditions.”