Sandor, Palghar
Sandor is a census town falling within the Vasai (Bassein) municipality of the Palghar district (previously Taana district), in the Konkan division of Maharashtra, India. Sandoris, the natives of Sandor, are predominantly Roman Catholic Kshatriyas of the Christian Bombay East Indian community, they converted in the colony centred around Bassein, the richest possession of the former Portuguese East Indies with the capital at Velha Goa, in the southern edge of the Konkan region. Prior to the arrival of Portuguese Armadas, there had also been some Nestorians descended from Jewish converts, by the efforts of the apostles Thomas or Bartholomew. History The natives of the Bassein (Vasai) are predominantly people whose culture derives from a composite of the Konkani substrate, overlaid by the Portuguese, Marathi& British rulers. The Sandoris are predominantly of the Vadval sub-ethnic group, and speak the Vadvali dialect, which is considered by the government as a dialect of Marathi, although this view is disputed. Following the conversions of 1564, a Portuguese noblewoman, Donna Irina, had a chapel, Our Lady of Help (Nossa Senhora da Ajuda) built in the village for the converts. The first Holy Mass was held in this chapel on 11 November 1566 by the Jesuit