Dadra and Nagar Haveli district is a district of the union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu in western India. It is composed of two separate geographical entities: Nagar Haveli, wedged in between Maharashtra and Gujarat states; and, to the north-west, the smaller enclave of Dadra, which is surrounded by Gujarat. Silvassa is the administrative headquarters of Dadra and Nagar Haveli.
Unlike the surrounding areas, Dadra and Nagar Haveli was ruled by the Portuguese from 1783 until the mid-20th century. The area was captured by pro-India forces in 1954 and administered as the de facto state of Free Dadra and Nagar Haveli before acceding to India as a union territory, the union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli in 1961. The union territory was merged with the neighbouring union territory of Daman and Diu to form the new union territory of "Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu" on 26 January 2020. The territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli then became one of the three districts of the new union territory, as the Dadra and Nagar Haveli district.
History
Pre-Portuguese era The history of Dadra and Nagar Haveli begins with the defeat of the Koli chieftains of the region by the Rajput kings. In the year 1262, a Rajput prince from Rajasthan named Ram Singh established himself as the ruler of Ramnagar, the present-day Dharampur, which consisted of 8 parganas (a group of villages) and assumed the title Maharana. Nagar Haveli was one of the Parganas, and its capital was Silvassa.
In 1360, Rana Dharamshah shifted his capital from Nagar Haveli to Nagar Fatehpur.
With the rise of Maratha power, Shivaji Maharaj viewed Ramnagar as an important locality. He captured the region, but Somshah Rana recaptured it in 1690.
After the Treaty of Vasai (6 May 1739), Vasai and the surrounding territories came under the Maratha rule.The Penguin Guide to the States & Union Territories of India, 2007
Soon after, the Marathas captured Ramnagar but reinstated the ruler, Ramdeo, under conditions. Thus the Marathas acquired the rights to collect revenue, known as chauthai. from Nagar Haveli and two other Parganas.
During the time of Dharamdeo, the son of Ramdeo, due to his change of policies (he neglected the conditions imposed earlier by the Marathas), the Marathas captured Nagar Haveli and the surrounding region.
Portuguese era
The Portuguese were granted the area of Nagar Haveli on 10 June 1783 on the basis of a friendship treaty executed on 17 December 1779 as compensation for damage to the Portuguese frigate Santana by the Maratha Navy in 1772. The treaty allowed the Portuguese to collect revenue from 72 villages in Nagar Haveli. Then, in 1785 the Portuguese purchased Dadra, annexing it to Portuguese State of India (Estado Português da Índia).
In 1818, the Maratha Empire was defeated by the British in the Third Anglo-Maratha War, and the Portuguese ultimately became the effective rulers of Dadra and Nagar Haveli.
Under the Portuguese rule, Dadra and Nagar Haveli were part of the Distrito de Damão (Daman district) of the Estado da Índia (Portuguese State of India). The two territories formed a single concelho (municipality), named "Nagar Haveli", with its head in Darará until 1885 and, after that, with its head in the town of Silvassa. The local affairs were overseen by an elected câmara municipal (municipal council), with the higher level affairs administrated by the district governor of Daman, who was represented in Nagar Haveli by an administrator.
The Nagar Haveli concelho was itself divided in the following freguesias (civil parishes): Silvassa, Noroli, Dadra, Quelalunim, Randá, Darará, Cadoli, Canoel, Carchonde, and Sindonim.
Portuguese rule lasted until 1954, when Dadra and Nagar Haveli were captured by supporters of the Indian Union. It was the first possession to be detached from the colonial Empire by the integration with the Indian Union in 1954, after nearly two centuries of Colonial rule.
End of Portuguese rule
After India attained independence in 1947, the residents of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, with the help of volunteers of organisations like the United Front of Goans (UFG), the National Movement Liberation Organisation (NMLO), and the Azad Gomantak Dal, conquered the territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli from Portuguese India in 1954.P S Lele, Dadra and Nagar Haveli: past and present, published by Usha P. Lele, 1987
As time passed, the Indian independence struggle picked up momentum. On 18 June 1946, Ram Manohar Lohia was arrested in Goa. This was the beginning of the independence struggle in Goa. He was deported to India. On 15 August 1947, India became independent from British rule, but the Portuguese and other European colonies were not immediately incorporated.
The Goan struggle continued for many years. Atmaram Narsinh Karmalkar, an officer in the Banco Colonial (Portuguese Bank) at Panaji (in Goa) (then known as Panjim), who was popularly known as Appasaheb Karmalkar, was indirectly involved in the freedom struggle in Goa. He was dismissed from the bank and finally took up the struggle to liberate Goa. In the course of time, he realised that the liberation of DNH was crucial if Goa was to be liberated. Karmalkar reached Vapi and met Jayantibhai Desai from Dadra. He also met Bhikubhai Pandya from Nani Daman and Vanmali Bhavsar from Silvassa.
Azad Gomantak Dal under the leadership of Vishwanath Lavande, Dattatreya Deshpande, Prabhakar Sinari and others, the Communist Party under the leadership of Shamrao Parulekar and Godavaribai Parulekar, and the United Front of Goans under the leadership of Francis Mascerenhas, J.M. D'Souza, Waman Desai and others were also attempting the liberation of DNH.
On 18 June 1954, many leaders met at Lavachha. Lavachha and Vapi were Indian territories. The order in which these places lie (from east to west) is Nagar Haveli, Lavachha, Dadra, Vapi and Daman (on the sea coast). So Portuguese officers required transit permits through the Indian territories of Lavachha and Vapi to travel between N.H., Dadra, and Daman.
On the night of 22 July 1954, 15 volunteers of the United Front of Goans under the leadership of Francis Mascerenhas and Waman Desai sneaked into the territory of Dadra and reached the police station. There were only three personnel at the police station. One was attacked with a knife by one of the volunteers, and the other two were overpowered. The Indian tricolour was hoisted and the Indian National Anthem was sung. Dadra was declared the "Free territory of Dadra".
On the night of 28 July, around 30 to 35 volunteers of Azad Gomantak Dal proceeded to Naroli from Karambele (Karambeli) by swimming across the rivulets. June to September is the rainy season in the region, and the rivers are usually flooded during this season. The Daman Ganga river was flooded and no help could reach Naroli. This was the reason to choose this date for proceeding to Naroli. There were only six police personnel. The volunteers and the villagers reached the police station and asked them to surrender or face death. They immediately surrendered. The Portuguese rule of Naroli came to an end.
The Special Reserve Police in the Indian Territory did not intervene. J.D. Nagarwala, the Dy. Inspector General of the Special Reserve Police in the Indian Territory, without entering DNH, asked Captain Fidalgo, the Administrator of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, to surrender to the Indian Forces along with his paramilitary forces before they would be executed by the liberators.
Leaving about 50 policemen and five civilian officers posted at Silvassa, Captain Fidalgo fled to Udva passing through Rakholi, Dappada, and Khanvel and surrendered to the SRP on 11 August. They were later allowed to go to Goa.
In the meanwhile, there were several rumours and the officers at Silvassa were in confusion. On 1 August, the liberators took advantage of the situation and proceeded from Dadra and Naroli and liberated Pipariya. The five police officers surrendered without resistance.
During the night, the volunteers divided themselves into three batches and reached the police chowky at Silvassa. The police chowky at Silvassa was protected by sandbags. There were three policemen on guard on three sides. Vasant Badve, Vishnu Bhople, and Shantaram Vaidya overpowered them from behind when least expected. The other policemen surrendered without resistance on seeing the other volunteers. The volunteers spent the night awake at the police chowky.
On the morning of 2 August 1954, the liberators reached the town of Silvassa to find it free of any Portuguese occupation. The liberation of Dadra and Nagar Haveli was complete.
Senhor Luis de Gama, the eldest nationalist, hoisted the Indian National Flag and declared the territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli liberated and the Indian National Anthem was sung.
Free Dadra and Nagar Haveli
From 1954 to 1961, Dadra and Nagar Haveli existed as a de facto state known as Free Dadra and Nagar Haveli. It was administered by a body called the Varishta Panchayat of Free Dadra and Nagar Haveli,Constitution of India, 10th AmendmentUmaji Keshao Meshram & Ors v. Radhikabhai w/o Anandrao Banapurkar AIR 1986 SC 1272: this judgment mentions the Administration of Dadra and Nagar Haveli in this period with administrative help from the government of India. Although it enjoyed de facto independence, Dadra and Nagar Haveli were still recognised internationally (e.g. by the International Court of Justice) as Portuguese colony.
Integration into India In 1961, amidst Indian preparation for the invasion of Goa, Daman, and Diu, K.G. Badlani, an officer of the Indian Administrative Service was, for one day, designated the Prime Minister of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, so that, as Head of State, he could sign an agreement with the Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, and formally merge Dadra and Nagar Haveli with the Republic of India. The Tenth Amendment of the Constitution of India was passed to incorporate Dadra and Nagar Haveli as a union territory, effective 11 August 1961.
On 31 December 1974 a treaty was signed between India and Portugal on recognition of India's sovereignty over Goa, Daman, Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli.
In December 2019, the Parliament of India passed legislation to merge Dadra and Nagar Haveli with the nearby union territory of Daman and Diu to create a single union territory to be known as Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu on 26 January 2020. Dadra and Nagar Haveli will be one of the three districts of the new union territory.
Geography
The area of Dadra and Nagar Haveli is spread over . Its population density is . Though landlocked between Gujarat to the north and Maharashtra to the south, it is close to the western coast of India (between 20°0′ and 20°25′ N latitude and between 72°50′ and 73°15′ E longitude), and the Arabian Sea can be reached via Vapi in Gujarat.
Dadra and Nagar Haveli comprises two separate geographical units. The larger part—Nagar Haveli—spans a roughly C-shaped area upriver from the city of Daman on the coast, at the centre of which, straddling the border with Gujarat, is the Madhuban reservoir. The smaller enclave of Dadra is a short distance to the northwest.
Dadra and Nagar Haveli is in the middle of the undulating watershed of the Daman Ganga River, which flows through Nagar Haveli and later forms the short southern border of Dadra. The towns of Dadra and Silvassa lie on the north bank of the river. The Western Ghats range rises to the east, and the foothills of the range occupy the eastern portion of the district.
Dadra and Nagar Haveli is surrounded by Valsad District of Gujarat on the west, north, and east, and by Thane District of Maharashtra on the south and southeast (after the division of Thane District, it is now surrounded by the newly formed Palghar District).