Mumbai in Portuguese period & British period and City development
Portuguese period
Main article: History of Bombay under Portuguese rule (1534–1661)
The Portuguese were actively involved in the foundation and growth of their religious orders in Bombay. The islands were leased to Mestre Diogo in 1534.[46] The San Miguel (St. Michael Church) in Mahim, one of the oldest churches in Bombay, was built by the Portuguese in 1540.[47] Parel,Wadala, Sion, and Worli were granted to Manuel Serrão between 1545 and 1548, during the viceroyalty of João de Castro. Mazagaon was granted toAntonio Pessoa in 1547.[48] Salsette was granted for three years to João Rodrigues Dantas, Cosme Corres, and Manuel Corres. Trombay and Chemburwere granted to Dom Roque Tello de Menezes, and the Island of Pory (Elephanta Island) to João Pirez in 1548.[49] Garcia de Orta, a Portuguese physician and botanist, was granted the possession of Bombay in 1554 by viceroy Pedro Mascarenhas.[50]
The Portuguese encouraged intermarriage with the local population, and strongly supported the Roman Catholic Church.[51] In 1560, they started proselytising the local Koli, Kunbi, Kumbhar population in Mahim, Worli, and Bassein.[52] These Christians were referred to by the British as Portuguese Christians, though they were Nestorian Christians who had only recently established ties with the Roman Catholic Church.[53] During this time, Bombay's main trade was coconuts and coir.[54] After Antonio Pessoa's death in 1571, a patent was issued which grantedMazagaon in perpetuity to the Sousa e Lima family.[48] The St. Andrew Church at Bandra was built in 1575.[55]
The annexation of Portugal by Spain in 1580 opened the way for other European powers to follow the spice routes toIndia. The Dutch arrived first, closely followed by the British.[56] The first English merchants arrived in Bombay in November 1583, and travelled through Bassein, Thane, and Chaul.[57] The Portuguese Franciscans had obtained practical control of Salsette and Mahim by 1585, and built Nossa Senhora de Bom Concelho (Our Lady of Good Counsel) at Sion and Nossa Senhora de Salvação (Our Lady of Salvation) at Dadar in 1596. The Battle of Swally was fought between the British and the Portuguese at Surat in 1612 for the possession of Bombay.[44] Dorabji Nanabhoy, a trader, was the first Parsi to settle in Bombay in 1640.[58] Castella de Aguada (Fort of the Waterpoint) was built by the Portuguese at Bandra in 1640 as a watchtower overlooking the Mahim Bay, the Arabian Sea and the southern island of Mahim.[59] The growing power of the Dutch by the middle of the seventeenth century forced the Surat Council of the British Empire to acquire Bombay from King John IV of Portugal in 1659.[44] The marriage treaty of 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.[60]
[edit]British period
Main articles: History of Bombay under British rule and Bombay Presidency
[edit]Struggle with native powers
On 19 March 1662, Abraham Shipman was appointed the first Governor and General of the city, and his fleet arrived in Bombay in September and October 1662. On being asked to hand over Bombay and Salsette to the English, the Portuguese Governor contended that the island of Bombay alone had been ceded, and alleging irregularity in the patent, he refused to give up even Bombay. The Portuguese Viceroy declined to interfere and Shipman was prevented from landing in Bombay. He was forced to retire to the island of Anjediva in North Canara and died there in October 1664. In November 1664, Shipman's successor Humphrey Cooke agreed to accept Bombay without its dependencies.[61][62] However, Salsette, Mazagaon, Parel, Worli,Sion, Dharavi, and Wadala still remained under Portuguese possession. Later, Cooke managed to acquire Mahim, Sion, Dharavi, and Wadala for the English.[63] On 21 September 1668, the Royal Charter of 27 March 1668, led to the transfer of Bombay from Charles II to the English East India Company for an annual rent of £10 (equivalent retail price index of £1,226 in 2007).[64] The Company immediately set about the task of opening up the islands by constructing a quay and warehouses.[65] A customs house was also built.[66] Fortifications were built around Bombay Castle. A Judge-Advocate was appointed for the purpose of civil administration.[65] George Oxenden became the first Governor of Bombay under the English East India Company on 23 September 1668.[66] Gerald Aungier, who was appointed Governor of Bombay on July 1669, established the first mint in Bombay in 1670.[67] He offered various business incentives, which attracted Parsis, Goans, Jews, Dawoodi Bohras, Gujarati Banias from Surat and Diu, and Brahmins from Salsette.[68] He also planned extensive fortifications in the city fromDongri in the north to Mendham's Point (near present day Lion Gate) in the south.[69] The harbour was also developed during his governorship, with space for the berthing of 20 ships.[54] In 1670, the Parsi businessman Bhimjee Parikh imported the first printing press into Bombay.[70] Between 1661 and 1675 there was a sixfold increase in population from 10,000 to 60,000.[71] Yakut Khan, the Siddi admiral of the Mughal Empire, landed at Bombay in October 1672 and ravaged the local inhabitants there.[72] On 20 February 1673, Rickloffe van Goen, the Governor-General of Dutch India attacked Bombay, but the attack was resisted by Aungier.[73] On 10 October 1673, the Siddi admiral Sambal entered Bombay and destroyed the Pen and Nagothana rivers, which were very important for the English and the Maratha King Shivaji.[72] The Treaty of Westminster concluded between England and the Netherlands in 1674, relieved the British settlements in Bombay of further apprehension from the Dutch.[66] In 1686, the Company shifted its main holdings from Surat to Bombay, which had become the administrative centre of all the west coast settlements then.[74][75] Bombay was placed at the head of all the Company's establishments in India.[76]
Yakut Khan landed at Sewri on 14 February 1689,[77] and razed the Mazagon Fort in June 1690.[78] After a payment made by the British to Aurangzeb, the ruler of the Mughal Empire, Yakut evacuated Bombay on 8 June 1690.[79] The arrival of many Indian and British merchants led to the development of Bombay's trade by the end of the seventeenth century. Soon it was trading in salt, rice, ivory, cloth, lead and sword blades with many Indian ports as well as with the Arabian cities of Mecca and Basra.[54] By 1710, the construction of Bombay Castle was finished, which fortified the islands from sea attacks by European pirates and the Marathas.[80] By 26 December 1715, Charles Boone assumed the Governorship of Bombay. He implementedAungier's plans for the fortification of the island, and had walls built from Dongri in the north to Mendham's point in the south.[54] He established the Marine force,[54] and constructed the St. Thomas Cathedral in 1718, which was the first Anglican Church in Bombay.[81] In 1728, a Mayor's court was established in Bombay and the first reclamation was started which was a temporary work in Mahalaxmi, on the creek separating Bombay from Worli.[54]The shipbuilding industry started in Bombay in 1735[82] and soon the Naval Dockyard was established in the same year.[83]
In 1737, Salsette was captured from the Portuguese by Maratha Baji Rao I and the province of Bassein was ceded in 1739.[84] The Maratha victory forced the British to push settlements within the fort walls of the city. Under new building rules set up in 1748, many houses were demolished and the population was redistributed, partially on newly reclaimed land.[85] Lovji Nusserwanjee Wadia, a member of the Wadia family of shipwrights and naval architects from Surat, built the Bombay Dock in 1750,[86] which was the first dry dock to be commissioned in Asia.[83] By the middle of the eighteenth century, Bombay began to grow into a major trading town and soon Bhandaris from Chaul in Maharashtra, Vanjaris from the Western Ghat mountain ranges of Maharashtra, Africans from Madagascar, Bhatias from Rajasthan, Vaishya Vanis, Goud Saraswat Brahmins, Daivajnas from konkan, ironsmiths and weavers from Gujarat migrated to the islands.[87] In 1769, Fort George was built on the site of the Dongri Fort[88] and in 1770, the Mazagaon docks were built.[89] The British occupied Salsette, Elephanta, Hog Island, and Karanja on 28 December 1774.[90] Salsette, Elephanta, Hog Island, and Karanja were formally ceded to the British East India Company by the Treaty of Salbai signed in 1782, while Bassein and its dependencies were restored to Raghunathrao of the Maratha Empire.[91] Although Salsette was under the British, but the introduction of contraband goods from Salsette to other parts of Bombay was prevented. The goods were subjected to Maratha regulations with respect to taxes and a 30% toll was levied on all goods into the city from Salsette.[92]
In 1782, William Hornby assumed the office of Governor of Bombay, and initiated the Hornby Vellard engineering project of uniting the seven islands into a single landmass. The purpose of this project was to block the Worli creek and prevent the low-lying areas of Bombay from being flooded at high tide.[89] However, the project was rejected by the British East India Company in 1783.[93] In 1784, the Hornby Vellard project was completed and soon reclamations at Worli and Mahalaxmi followed.[94] The history of journalism in Bombay commenced with publication of the Bombay Herald in 1789 and the Bombay Courier in 1790.[95] In 1795, the Maratha army defeated the Nizam of Hyderabad. Following this, many artisans and construction workers from Andhra Pradesh migrated to Bombay and settled into the flats which were constructed by the Hornby Vellard. These workers where calledKamathis, and their enclave was called Kamathipura.[96] The construction of the Sion Causeway (Duncan Causeway) commenced in 1798.[97] The construction of the Sion Causeway was completed in 1802 by Governor Jonathan Duncan. It connected Bombay Island to Kurla in Salsette.[98] On 17 February 1803, a fire raged through the town, razing many localities around the Old Fort, subsequently the British had to plan a new town with wider roads.[99] On May 1804, Bombay was hit by a severe famine, which led to a large scale emigration.[66] On 5 November 1817, the British East India Company under Mountstuart Elphinstone[100] defeated Bajirao II, the Peshwa of the Maratha Empire, in the Battle of Kirkee which took place on theDeccan Plateau.[101] The success of the British campaign in the Deccan witnessed the freedom of Bombay from all attacks by native powers.[66]
City development
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The educational and economic progress of the city began with the Company's military successes in the Deccan. The Wellington Pier (Apollo Bunder) in the north of Colaba was opened for passenger traffic in 1819 and the Elphinstone High School was established in 1822. Bombay was hit by a water famine in 1824. The construction of the new mint commenced in 1825.[66] With the construction of a good carriage road up the Bhor Ghat during the regimes of Mountstuart Elphinstone and Sir John Malcolm gave better access from Bombay to the Deccan. This road, which was opened on 10 November 1830, facilitated trade in a large measure.[102] By 1830, regular communication with England started by steamers navigating the Red andMediterranean Sea.[66] In July 1832, the Parsi riots took place in consequence of a Government order for the destruction of pariah dogs which infested the city. The Asiatic Society of Bombay (Town Hall) was completed in 1833,[66][103] and the Elphinstone College was built in 1835.[104] In 1836, the Chamber of Commerce was established.[66]
In 1838, the islands of Colaba and Little Colaba were connected to Bombay by the Colaba Causeway.[102] In the same year, monthly communication was established between Bombay and London.[66] The Bank of Bombay, the oldest bank in the city, was established in 1840,[105] and the Bank of Western India in 1842.[106] The Cotton Exchange was established in Cotton Green in 1844. Avabai Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoyfunded the construction of the Mahim Causeway,[97] to connect Mahim to Bandra and the work was completed in 1845.[107] The Commercial Bank of India, established in 1845, issued exotic notes with an interblend of Western and Eastern Motifs.[106]On 3 November 1845, the Grant Medical College and hospital, the third in the country, was founded by Governor Robert Grant.[108] The earliest riots occurred at Mahim in 1850, in consequence of a dispute between two rival factions of Khojas. Riots broke out between Muslims and Parsis in October 1851, in consequence of an ill-advised article on Prophet Muhammad which appeared in the Chitra Gnyan Darpan newspaper.[109] The first political organization of the Bombay Presidency, the Bombay Association, was started on 26 August 1852, to vent public grievances to the British.[110] The first-ever Indian railway line began operations between Bombay and neighbouring Thane over a distance of 21 miles on 16 April 1853.[111] The Bombay Spinning and Weaving Company was the first cotton mill to be established in the city on 7 July 1854 at Tardeo in Central Bombay.[112] The Bombay, Baroda, and Central India Railway (BB&CI) was incorporated in 1855.[113]
The University of Bombay was the first modern institution of higher education to be established in India in 1857.[114] The Commercial Bank, the Chartered Mercantile, the Agra and United Service, the Chartered and the Central Bank of Western India were established in Bombay attracting a considerable industrial population.[115] The outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861 increased the demand for cotton in the West, and led to an enormous increase in cotton-trade.[116] The Victoria Gardens was opened to the public in 1862.[117] The Bombay Shipping and Iron Shipping Companies were started in 1863 to make Bombay merchants independent of the English.[66] The Bombay Coast and River Steam Navigation Company was established in 1866 for the maintenance of steam ferries between Bombay and the nearby islands;[66] while the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 revolutionized the marine trade of Bombay.[102] The Bombay Municipal Corporation was established in 1872, providing a modern framework of governance for the rapidly-growing city.[118] The Bombay Port Trust was promulgated in 1870 for the development and administration of the port.[119] Tramway communication was instituted in 1873.[120] The Bombay Electric Supply and Transport (BEST), originally set up as a tramway company: Bombay Tramway Company Limited, was established in 1873.[121] Violent Parsi-Muslim riots again broke out in February 1874, which were caused by an article on Prophet Muhammad published by a Parsi resident.[109] The Bombay Gymkhana was formed in 1875.[122] The Bombay Stock Exchange, the oldest stock exchange in Asia, was established in 1875.[123] Electricity arrived in Bombay in 1882 and Crawford Market was the first establishment to be lit up by electricity.[124] The Bombay Natural History Society was founded in 1883.[125] Bombay Time, one of the two official time zones in British India, was established in 1884[126] during the International Meridian Conference held at Washington, D.C in the United States.[127]Bombay time was set at 4 hours and 51 minutes ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) using the 75th east meridian.[126] The Princess Dock was built in 1885 as part of a scheme for improving the whole foreshore of the Bombay harbour.
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