In the 13th century Daman formed part of the Ramnagar state, which then became a tributary of the Gujarat sultans.

Similarly, numerous dynasties in Kathiawar (Saurashtra) ruled Diu until it fell to the sultan of Gujarat in the early 15th century.

[4] The Portuguese Captain-Major Diogo de Melo arrived at the Daman shore by chance in 1523 while sailing towards Ormuz.

A larger fort was built in Moti Daman in the 16th century to guard against the Mughals, who ruled the area until the Portuguese arrived.

Daman was incorporated into the Republic of India in December 1961 after nearly 400 years of Portuguese colonial rule which had largely led to exploitation of the area and native population.

It is equipped with state-of-the-art airport surveillance radar (ASR), precision approach path indicator (PAPI), Doppler very high frequency omnidirectional radio range (DVOR) – distance measuring equipment (DME) and nondirectional beacon (NDB), as navigational aids.