Dadra & Nagar Haveli. Endowed with nature's munificence, it's a land of spell-binding beauty... green forests, winding rivers, unimaginable waterfronts, gentle gurgle of streams, distant dotting mountain ranges, a gorgeous kaleidoscope of flora and fauna... Owing to its serenity and quaint sylvan surroundings, this territory is a heaven for those who hunt around for a tranquil holiday.
In order to keep the English at bay and to enlist their support against the Mughals, the Marathas made friends with the Portuguese and signed a treaty in 1779. According to this historic treaty of friendship, the Maratha-Peshwa agreed that the Portuguese will be allowed to collect revenue from Dadra and Nagar Haveli which consisted of 72 villages, then known as parganas in compensation for their loss of a warship called " Santana " which had earlier been captured by the Marathas but not surrendered to the Portuguese inspite of their many entreaties. These territories were earlier ruled by the Koli chiefs who were defeated by the Hindu kings of Jawhar and Ramnagar. The Marathas conquered and annexed these territories to their kingdom.
The area of Dadra &Nagar Haveli spread over 491.00 sq.kms. land locked between Gujarat in North and Maharashtra in South was liberated from Portuguese Rulers by people themselves on 2nd August 1954 . The people of the U.T. established free Administration of Dadra & Nagar Haveli, which was finally merged in to Union of India in the year 1961.
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