History of Mumbai

Name - Talha Siddiqui Class - SYBMMRoll.No - 22

History of

Mumbai

-Home to around 20.5 million people.

-Multi-cultural city.

-Centre of India's entertainment industry.-Most populated country in India.

-Ranks 4th in the world.

-Human habitation existed since the Stone Age.

Pre-Historic Period-The present day city was built on what was originally a group of seven islands

1) Bombay Island 5) Colaba2) Parel 6) Worli3) Mazagaon 7) Old Woman's Island4) Mahim (Little Colaba)

-The Koli fishing community had long inhabited the islands.

The Hindu Rule

Ashoka of Magadha

-The Maurya Empire under Emperor Ashoka of Magadha in the third century BCE.

Kanheri Caves Mahakali Caves

-The port of Sopara(present-day Nala Sopara) was an important trading centre during the first century BCE

-Buddhist monks, scholars, and artists created the artwork, inscriptions, and sculpture

-After the decline of the Maurya Empire, between 3rd to 13th century the islands fell to many hands.

Satavahanas

AbhirasKalachuris

Mauryas of Konkan

Chalukyas

Rashtrakutas

Silhara dynasty of konkan ruled the region between 8th to 12th century. They constructed Elephanta caves.

King Bhimdev of Gujrat founded his kingdom in the region in the late 13th century. He was a very powerful king and most of the people gives him the credit for setting the Bombay. His capital was in Mahim.

Islamic periodThe islands came under the control of the Muslim rulers of Gujarat in 1348, ending the sovereignty of Hindu rulers over the islands.

Muzaffar Shah I 

- Gujarat Sultanate  (1391- 1535)

Rai Qutb

Ahmad Shah I Wali

Sultan Bahadur Shah

The Sultanate's patronage led to the construction of many mosques, prominent being the Haji Ali Dargah  in Mahim, built in honour the Muslim saint Haji Ali in 1431.

Portuguese ColonizationPortuguese explorer Francisco de Almeida's ship sailed into the deep natural harbour of the island in 1508, and he called it Bom Bahia (Good Bay), which the English pronounced Bombay.

Bahadur Shah signed the Treaty of Bassein with the Portuguese on 23 December 1534. According to the treaty, the islands of Mumbai and Bassein were offered to the Portuguese.

Bassein and the seven islands were surrendered to Nuno da Cunha, Viceroy of Portuguese India, on 25 October 1535, ending the Islamic rule in Mumbai.

Portuguese used this area to promote their religion, St. Michael church in Mahim was constructed by a Portuguese ruler.

In 1534, the Portuguese captured the islands and established a trading centre (or 'factory') there.

This trading place slowly grew, with local people trading products such as-

Silk Muslin ChintzOnyx

RiceCotton

Tobacco

British PeriodIn October 1626, whilst at war with Portugal, English sailors heard that the Portuguese had "got into a hole called Bombay" to repair their ships.

They attacked Bombay, but the ships had already left. The English burned down buildings, and destroyed two new Portuguese ships.

The marriage treaty of the King Charles II of England and Catherine of Portugal on 8 May 1661 placed Bombay in British possession as a part of Catherine's dowry to Charles.

Weds

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.

Within a few years the Company transformed Bombay

-In 1670, the Parsi businessman Bhimjee Parikh imported the first printing press into Bombay.

-In 1854 the first Indian cotton mill was opened.

-In 1845 the Reclamation project connected all the small parts of the city into a big island.

-In 1853, the first Indian railway opened, which stretched from Bombay to Thana.

-Afterwards Bombay saw even more development construction of new buildings. Wilson College, Chowpatti, Malabar hill, Victoria terminus railway station and even Gate way of India to welcome King George five and Queen Mary to India.  

Independent IndiaBombay even played a major role in Indian freedom struggle.

Balagangadhara tilak from Ratnagiri was the first popular leader of the Indian Independence Movement.

The first session of Indian National Congress was held in Bombay on 31st December 1885.

In 1956 San Yanyukta Maharashtra Committe was formed in Pune. It demanded separate state on the basis of Marathi language and Bombay as its capital.

This was not accepted by the Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.

After continued protest the request was accepted and Maharashtra state was formed with Bombay as its capital.

The city changed its name in 1995 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.

Post-Independence

Sky-scrapers, towering architecture, the Bombay Stock Exchange, tarred roads and a boom in the secondary and tertiary sector changed the city's status and brought it up to one of the top four cities in the country. Today, Mumbai is the fourth most populous city in the world.

After this there was a Rise of Bollywood in Bombay and it continued to grow a business hub in the coming years.