Bombay: History of a City

The City of Bombay

Bombay, now known as Mumbai is a
thriving cosmopolitan, multi-cultural
city, and is the centre of India's
entertainment industry.
At first there were just seven islands
separated by swamps: the land was
dangerous and unhealthy. A thousand years ago the islands were part of the
Magadhan Empire.
1343 Became part of the lands of the Sultan of Gujrat.
1534 Under Portuguese rule; establishment of a trading centre.
The Portuguese called the place Bom Bahia, meaning 'the good bay', which the
English pronounced Bombay.
1626 The trading place slowly grew. Trading of products like silk, muslin, chintz,
onyx, rice, cotton and tobacco started. There was a great warehouse, a friary, a fort
and a ship building yard.
There were also new houses for the general population, and mansions for the
wealthy.
October 1626 English attack Bombay. They burned down buildings, and
destroyed Portuguese ships.
May 1662 - King Charles II of England married Catherine of Braganza, whose
family offered a large dowry (a gift made by the father of the bride to the groom).
Part of this gift was the Portuguese territory of Bombay. However, Charles II did
not want the trouble of ruling these islands and in 1668 persuaded the East India
Company to rent them for just 10 pounds of gold a year.
- As Bombay was a deep water port, large vessels were able to dock there.
Bombay needed a fort and a garrison of soldiers to protect it from Dutch
fleets and Indian pirates.

1670 - Settlers came from many local communities, as well as from Britain. The
Company had 1,500 soldiers in Bombay (both English and local) to protect people
living there.
1687 - The Company made Bombay their Indian headquarters. The headquarters
stayed there until 1708.
1688 Conflict between the English and the Mughals. Fourteen Mughal ships
were captured and taken to Bombay harbor. A fleet of barges was also captured.
February 1689 - A force entered Bombay
harbor and landed Mughal men.
1700 Trading Capital The Gateway to
India
Because Bombay was a secure place
offering a range of employment
opportunities, people with all sorts of skills
moved there to start a new life.
There were goldsmiths to make fabulous jewellery, weavers to create extraordinary
textiles, merchants to trade the goods, and money-lenders in case the merchants or
anybody else needed cash, as well as ironsmiths, planters, and servants. Bombay
did not only trade in local products; many other goods were brought from all over
India and beyond.
1730 - Ship builders moved into Bombay, creating a new industry.
Raw cotton was shipped from Bombay to
England where it was manufactured into
cloth prior to being sent back to India for
sale.
Early 1800s Engineering work carried
out in Bombay. Citys swamps were
completely filled in.
1845 - Seven small islands that had
previously made up Bombay had been
turned into one large island.
1853 - The first Indian railway opened, which stretched from Bombay to Thana.
The employment created by the new railway attracted more people to settle in
Bombay.

1854 - The first Indian cotton mill was opened.

1864 - Population of Bombay was 816,562.
1991 - The population of the whole of Bombay (which had spread beyond the
islands) was 9,900,000.
1995 - The city changed its name in to Mumbai, after Mumbadevi, the stone
goddess of the deep-sea fishermen who originally lived on the islands before they
were driven out by the East India Company.