About the place

After prolonged skirmishes between the Portuguese and the Marathas, on 17 December, 1779, the Maratha Government assigned the aggregated revenue of Rs 12,000 in a few villages of this territory to the Protuguese as compensation to ensure their friendship. The Portuguese ruled this territory until its liberation by the people on 2 August, 1954. From 1954 till 1961, the territory functioned almost independently by what was known as "Free Dadra and Nagar Haveli Administration". However, the territory was merged with the Indian Union on 11 August, 1961, and since then, is being administered by the Government of India as a Union Territory. After liberation of the territory from Portuguese rule, a Varishtha Panchayat was working as an advisory body of the Administration. This was dissolved in August 1989, and a Pradesh Council for Dadra and Nagar Haveli District Panchayat and 11 Village Panchayats were constituted as per constitutional amendments at All India level. The UT of Dadra and Nagar Haveli has an area of 491 sq km, and it is surrounded by Gujarat and Maharashtra. It consists of two pockets namely, Dadra and Nagar Haveli. The nearest railway station is at Vapi, which is 18 km from Silvassa.