Answer:
(a) Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj:
- The Portuguese held Goa, Chaul, Vasai and Daman on the western coast and controlled the sea through the cartaz system.
- Shivaji Maharaj built a navy to check the Portuguese and the Siddis; at first Portuguese shipbuilders worked for him at Kalyan-Bhiwandi but later left him.
- He opposed the forcible religious conversions by the Portuguese and attacked their territory of Bardesh (1667).
- He maintained a cautious policy, sometimes making treaties and sometimes fighting them.
(b) Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj:
- The Portuguese helped the Mughals and the Siddis against the Marathas.
- Sambhaji Maharaj attacked Portuguese areas around Chaul and Revdanda (1683).
- When the Portuguese Viceroy attacked Phonda, Sambhaji Maharaj drove him back and attacked Goa itself, capturing the island of Santo Estevao; the Portuguese were in great difficulty.
- He had to return when the Mughal army under Shah Alam entered the Konkan.
(c) Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj:
- Kanhoji Angre, the Maratha naval chief (Sarkhel), challenged the Portuguese at sea.
- Because of Portuguese religious persecution and their hold on the Vasai region, Peshwa Bajirao I sent Chimaji Appa on the Vasai campaign (1737–39).
- Chimaji Appa captured the fort of Vasai in May 1739; the Portuguese lost Salsette, Vasai and the northern Konkan and were left only with Goa, Daman and Diu.
