Mumbai (Bombay)
Historical Background
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Originally made of seven islands, Colaba, Fort, Byculla, Parel, Worli, Matunga and Mahim, today Mumbai extends up to Mulund and Dahisar. Land reclamations over the years have connected the seven islands into a single city. The several historical places of interest include The Gateway of India, Mani Bhavan, The Prince of Wales Museum, Hutatma Chowk (Flora Fountain), Victoria Gardens and Museum, The Jehangir Art Gallery, Nehru Planetarium and Nehru Science Centre. It is also a place that is rich in ancient history. Stone age implements have been found at several sites in these islands. Later, around the third century BC, the coastal regions, and presumably the islands, were part of the Magadh empire ruled by the emperor Ashok.
Around this time the empire ebbed, leaving behind some Buddhist monks and deep-sea fishermen called Kolis. Now these fisher folk worship Goddess Mumbadevi, and that is how this metropolis got its name.
Bombay has been ruled by many leaders. The islands belonged to the Silhara dynasty until the middle of the 13th century. The oldest structures in the caves at Elephanta, and a part of the Walkeshwar Temple complex probably date from this time. Modern sources identify a 13th century Raja Bhimdev, who had his capital in Mahikawati (present day Mahim and Prabhadevi). Presumably the first merchants and agriculturists started settling in Mumbai during this time. In 1343 the island of Salsette, and eventually the whole archipelago, passed to the Sultan of Gujarat. Even the mosque in Mahim dates from this period.
In 1508, Francis Almeida sailed into the deep natural harbor of the island, which his countrymen came to call Bom Bahia (the Good Bay). And Bahadur Shah of Gujarat was forced to cede the main islands to the Portuguese in 1534, before he was murdered by the proselytizing invaders. Now the Portuguese were not interested in the islands, although they built a fort in Bassein, some fortifications, and a few chapels for the converted fishermen. The St. Andrew's church in Bandra dates from this period. For years, the Dutch and the British tried to get information on the sea route to India, often by spying. But the reports of such spies never bother to mention Bombay.
Eventually, in 1661, Catherine of Braganza gave away these islands to Charles II of England as part of her marriage dowry. The British East India Company received it from the crown in 1668, founded the modern city, and shortly thereafter moved their main holdings from Surat to Bombay. George Oxenden was the first Governor of Bombay. The intricate web of commerce, which had supported the civilization of the Indian Ocean literally died with the arrival of the Europeans. The Mughal empire in Delhi was not drawn much to the navies, despising the Portuguese and the British as 'merchant princes.' But the second governor of Bombay, Gerald Aungier, saw the opportunity to develop the islands into a center of commerce. Augier offered various incentives to skilled workers and traders to move to the British holding. The opportunities for business attracted many Gujarati communities - the Parsis, the Bohras, Jews and Banias from Surat and Diu. At around this time the population of Bombay was estimated to have risen from 10,000 in 1661 to 60,000 in 1675.
Throughout the 18th century British power and influence grew slowly and at the expense of local kingdoms. The migration of skilled workers and traders to the safe haven of Bombay continued to flourish. The shipbuilding industry moved to Bombay from Surat with the coming of the Wadias. Artisans from Gujarat, such as goldsmiths, ironsmiths and weavers moved to the islands and coexisted with the slave trade from Madagascar. During this period the first land-use laws were set up in Bombay, segregating the British part of the islands from the black town. With increasing prosperity and growing political power following the 1817 victory over the Marathas, the British embarked upon reclamations and large scale engineering works in Bombay.
The sixty years between the completion of the vellard at Breach Candy (1784) and the construction of the Mahim Causeway (1845) are considered an important period during which the seven islands were merged into one landmass. These immense works, in turn, attracted construction workers, like the Kamathis from Andhra, who began to come to Bombay from 1757 on. A regular civil administration was put in place during this period. In 1853 a 35-kilometer long railway line between Thane and Bombay was inaugurated- the first in India. Four years later, in 1854, the first cotton mill was founded in Bombay. With the cotton mills came large scale migrations of Marathi workers, and the chawls which accommodated them. The city had found its shape. Following the first war of Independence in 1857, the Company was accused of mismanagement and Bombay reverted to the British crown. With the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861, and the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, exports, especially cotton, from Bombay became a major part of the colonial economy. The Great Indian Peninsular Railway facilitated travel within India. This network of commerce and communication led to an accumulation of wealth. This was channeled into building an Imperial Bombay by a succession of Governors. Many of Bombay's famous landmarks, the Flora Fountain and the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (formerly known as Victoria Terminus) date from this time. The water works, including the Hanging Gardens and the lakes were also built around this time. The Bombay Municipal Corporation was founded in 1872. However, this facade of a progressive and well-governed city was belied by the plague epidemics of the 1890s. This dichotomy between the city's symbols of power and prosperity, and the living conditions of the people who make it so, continues even today.
The construction of Imperial Bombay continued well into the 20th century. Landmarks from this period include the
Prince of Wales Museum. Bombay expanded northwards into the first suburbs, before spreading its nightmarish tentacles into the northern suburbs. The nearly 2000 acres reclaimed by the Port Trust depressed the property market for a while, but the Backbay reclamation scandal of the '20s was a testament to the greed for land.
The freedom movement reached a high pitch of activity against this background of developing Indian wealth. Gandhi returned from South Africa, and reached Bombay on January 12, 1915.
In the succeeding years, several anti-British uprisings and campaigns foretold the end of the British imperial rule in India. And it was clearly presaged by the Quit India Movement spearheaded by the Indian National Congress on August 8, 1942, in Gowalia Tank Maidan, near Kemp's Corner. Finally India was set free of its colonial clutches on August 15, 1947. In the meantime, Greater Bombay had come into existence through an act of the British parliament in 1945. Already India's main port and commercial center, the City of Gold lured the poverty stricken rural population and the expanding middle class equally. Furthermore the population boom of the '50s and '60s was fueled by the absence of opportunities in the rest of the country—the language riots, the reorganization of Indian states and the see-saw politics of the country did not seem to affect the city. Besides, the glamor industry's flattering portrayal of Bombay seemed to be the reality.
