Chaul

Chaul is a location on the coast of the Arabian Sea in the western Indian state of Maharashtra town with the ruins of an early 16th century the Portuguese established trading post.

Location

In ancient times, Chaul was known under the name Chemulaka as a port on the west coast of India in the Konkan region, approximately 56 km south of Mumbai. Chaul is located at the mouth of Kundalika River, which is navigable as far as 30 km upriver market town of Roha. Chaul was since the 1st millennium BC, the Roha Valley and Saumpässe that lead through the mountain range of the Western Ghats, coupled with the on the Deccan Plateau located settlements and later cities of Pune, Ahmednagar and Aurangabad. Chaul ( Semylla ) had following the trade routes in the Arabian Sea that connected the Mediterranean and the Near East, India, Africa, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and China.

Excavations

The operations performed by Vishwas Gogte from the Archaeological Institute of Deccan College, University of Pune excavations suggest a strong trade, among other things, with glass beads, the so-called Indo- Pacific beads, between India and East Africa close. In the vicinity of Chaul there are Buddhist rock monasteries.

History

In the Periplus Maris Erythraei and in the Geographike Hyphegesis of Claudius Ptolemy Chaul is mentioned under the name Semylla. Ptolemy reported that his knowledge Chauls of Egyptian merchants stems that Chaul visited regularly. In Chaul and on a barrier peninsula were since 1521 Portuguese fortifications. In October 1531 the Portuguese built a square, stone fort, the Santa Maria do Castello, with a church and a crew of 120 men. 1570-71 was the Fort of Nizam Shah, Sultan of Ahmadnagar, besieged, but extended by an agreement and amplified by the upstream Fort Morro de Chaul. In the 18th century Chaul lost its importance and sank after it was ceded in 1740 by the Portuguese to the resident of Pune, emerging feudal power of the Marathas into insignificance, perhaps also because of the harbor silted up. Very little remains of the port city. There you will find ruins of the Portuguese fort