Unlike the surrounding areas, Dadra and Nagar Haveli was ruled by the Portuguese from 1783 until the mid-20th century. The area was captured by pro-India forces in 1954 and administered as the de facto state of Free Dadra and Nagar Haveli before being annexed to India as a union territory, the union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli in 1961. The union territory was merged with the neighbouring union territory of Daman and Diu to form the new union territory of "Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu" on 26 January 2020. The territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli then became one of the three districts of the new union territory, as the Dadra and Nagar Haveli district.