Kalyan

Kalyan stood at the head of the Ulhas creek, where the coastal creeks of northern Konkan meet the road up the Ghats to the Deccan. Boats came up the tidal water to its landings, and for centuries its fort and market controlled the trade between the harbours of Salsette and the interior.

In the sixteenth century Kalyan belonged to the Ahmadnagar sultanate and was a provincial headquarters. The Portuguese took it in 1536 but kept no garrison, and when they returned in 1570 they burned its suburbs and carried off booty. In 1636 it passed to Bijapur, and then Shivaji's men and the Mughals fought over it. An English traveller who came in 1675 found a ruined settlement whose people lived in poor huts, though signs of its former importance remained. After the Peshwa's defeat in 1817 and 1818 the town passed to the British.