caves, including those at Kanheri, can be found on the island, and date from the end of the 2nd century. Salsette was ruled by a succession of Hindu kingdoms, the last of which were the Silharas and later the Marathas. In 1343, the islands were annexed by the Sultan of Guzerat. In 1534, the Portuguese empire seized the islands from Sultan Bahadur Shah. Sashti became part of the northern province of Portuguese India, which was governed from Vasai (Bassein) on the north shore of Bassein Creek. It was leased to Dom (title) Diogo Rodrigues from 25 October, 1535 to 1548. In 1554, the islands were handed over to Garcia de Orta, a renowned physician and botanist and the author of Colloquies on the Simples, Drugs and Materia Medica of India, a seminal work on Indian Eastern medicine of its time. On the island of Mazagaon, the Jesuits had set up base claiming the land. The Portuguese king refused to entertain their claim and in 1572 permanently leased the island to the de Souza e de Lima family. By now, there was a large Roman Catholic population. The Portuguese also brought with them African slaves known as "Kaffirs", who soon entered the ethnic mix of the people. The Portuguese East Indies had their capital in Old Goa, which lay south of the Bombay islands in India. Goa was then known as the "Rome of the East" due to its prominence, the islands were never important to the Portuguese. Nine churches were built on Salsette island by the Portuguese; Nirmal (1557), Nossa Senhora dos Remédios (1557), Sandor (1566), Agashi (1568), Nandakal (1573), Papdy (1574), Pale (1595), Manickpur (1606) & Nossa Senhora das Mercês (1606). The St. Andrews Church and the Mount Mary's Basilica in Bandra, the Cross at Cross Maidan, Gloria Church (1632) in Mazagaon and the remnants of a church in Santa Cruz are the sole places of worship that have survived till today. In 1661, the seven Bombay (Mumbai) islets were ceded to Britain as part of the dowry of Catherine Braganza to Charles II of England while Salsette remained in Portuguese hands. Charles II in turn, leased the Bombay islets to the English East India Company in 1668 for £10 per year. The company found the deep harbour at Mumbai (Bombay) eminently apposite, and the population rose from 10,000 in 1661 to 60,000 by 1675. In 1687, the East