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capital city in Maharashtra, India
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Mumbai ( muum-BY; Marathi: Mumbaī, pronounced [ˈmumbəi] ⓘ), also known as Bombay ( bom-BAY; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the financial capital of India. Located on the Konkan coast along the west coast of India, it has a deep natural harbour. As per the 2011 Census of India, it is the most populous city proper in India, with a population of almost 12.5 million, while the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, which is among the most populous metropolitan areas in the world, has a population of over 20 million. The city forms part of the Mumbai City and Mumbai Suburban districts and is administered by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, which was established in 1888.
Mumbai, originally an archipelago of seven islands, has evidence of human occupation dating back to the South Asian Stone Age. The islands were ruled by the Maurya Empire since the 3rd century BCE and were referenced by Ptolemy in his text in 150 CE. The islands were inhabited by the Marathi–speaking Koli people, whose deity Mumbā is believed to have given the city its name. The region was later ruled by several dynasties such as Satavahanas, Western Satraps, Chalukyas, Rashtrakutas, and Shilaharas, before coming under the control of the Delhi Sultanate, and later the Gujarat Sultanate during the Middle Ages. In 1535, the islands were ceded to the Portuguese, and in 1661, transferred to the British Crown as part of Catherine of Braganza's dowry, before being leased to the East India Company in 1668.
Under British Raj, Bombay was the capital of the Bombay Presidency, and developed into a major trading and administrative centre. Beginning in 1782, Mumbai underwent major transformation through the Hornby Vellard project, which involved the reclamation of land between the city's seven islands from the Arabian Sea. Alongside the construction of major roads and railways, the reclamation project, completed in 1845, unified the islands and helped transform Mumbai into a major seaport on the Arabian Sea. This infrastructure expansion, combined with the 19th-century cotton boom, drove rapid economic growth and further established Mumbai as an important commercial centre. The city played a major role in the Indian independence movement. After India's independence in 1947, Bombay became the capital of Bombay State and after the Samyukta Maharashtra movement, became the capital of Maharashtra in 1960.
Mumbai is classified as an alpha world city and serves as India's financial, commercial, and entertainment capital, attracting migrants from across the country. It is often compared to New York City. In the early 2010s, the city contributed nearly five percent of India's GDP, one-fourth of its industrial output, and one-third of its tax revenues. Being the capital of the state, it houses major government institutions including the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, and the Bombay High Court. It is home to major scientific, nuclear, and financial institutions, as well as the headquarters of numerous Indian companies and multinational corporations. It is also the centre of Bollywood, one of the world's most prolific film industries, as well as Marathi cinema.
The name Mumbai (Marathi: मुंबई) originated from Mumbā or Mahā-Ambā, the name of the patron Hindu goddess (Kula Devata) Mumbadevi of the native Koli community, and from ā'ī, meaning "mother" in Marathi. By some accounts, the Koli community of Kathiawar and Central Gujarat introduced their deity Mumba from Kathiawar, where her worship continues to this day.
The oldest known names for the city are Kakamuchee and Galajunkja; these are sometimes still used. Portuguese writer Gaspar Correia recorded the name "Bombaim" after 1512 in his Lendas da Índia (Legends of India).Yule & Burnell 1996, p. 102 Some Anglophone authors have suggested this came from a supposed Galician–Portuguese phrase bom baim, "good little bay", with no scientific basis. In 1516, Portuguese explorer Duarte Barbosa used the name Tana-Maiambu with Tana referring to the adjoining town of Thane and Maiambu referring to Mumbadevi or the neighbouring island of Mahim.
The form Bombaim is still commonly used in Portuguese. Many variant names were recorded in the 16th and the 17th centuries. After the English gained possession of the city in the 17th century, the Portuguese name was anglicised to Bombay. Ali Muhammad Khan, imperial dewan or revenue minister of the Gujarat province, in the Mirat-i Ahmedi (1762) called the city Manbai.
The French traveller Louis Rousselet, who visited in 1863 and 1868, stated in 1877 that "Etymologists have wrongly derived this name from the Portuguese Bôa Bahia, or (French: "bonne baie", English: "good bay"), not knowing that the tutelar goddess of this island has been, from remote antiquity, Bomba, or Mumba Devi, and that she still ... possesses a temple". British officer and scholar John Briggs concurred that the name Bombay was a corruption of "Mumby", for a temple to Mumba Devi.
By the late 20th century, the city was called Mumbai or Mambai in Marathi, Konkani, Gujarati, Kannada and Sindhi, and Bambai in Hindi. The Government of India officially changed the English name to Mumbai in November 1995. This came at the insistence of the Marathi nationalist Shiv Sena party, which had just won the Maharashtra state elections, and mirrored similar name changes across India. Shiv Sena argued that the name 'Bombay' echoed British colonial rule. While Mumbai is still called Bombay by some residents and by some Indians from other regions, mention of the city by a name other than Mumbai has become controversial.
A resident of Mumbai is called Mumbaikar (pronounced [ˈmumbəikəɾ]) in Marathi, in which the suffix -kar means a 'resident of'. The term had been in use for quite some time, but it gained popularity after the official name change to Mumbai. Older terms such as Bombayite are used infrequently.
Mumbai is built on what was originally an archipelago of seven islands: Isle of Bombay, Parel, Mazagaon, Mahim, Colaba, Worli, and Old Woman's Island (also known as Little Colaba). Pleistocene sediments near Kandivali suggest that the islands were inhabited since the South Asian Stone Age. In the 3rd century BCE, the islands became part of the Maurya Empire under Ashoka, followed by the Satavahana dynasty in the 2nd century BCE. The Koli fishing community populated the region during the beginning of the Common Era.
The Mahakali Caves in Andheri were cut out between the 1st century BCE and the 6th century CE, while the Kanheri Caves in Borivali, excavated in the 1st century CE, became an important centre of Buddhism in Western India. In the 2nd century, Greek geographer Ptolemy referred to the islands as Heptanesia (Ancient Greek: A cluster of seven islands). Between the 2nd century and 9th centuries, the islands were ruled by successive indigenous dynasties including the Western Satraps, Abhira, Vakataka, Kalachuris, Konkan Mauryas, Chalukyas, and Rashtrakutas, before being ruled by the Shilaharas from 810 to 1260. Important historic structures from this period that survive include the Jogeshwari Caves (between 520 and 525), Elephanta Caves (between 6th to 7th century), Walkeshwar Temple (10th century), and Banganga Tank (12th century).
In the late 13th century, King Bhima established a kingdom in the region and made Mahikawati (present-day Mahim) its capital. Around 1298, the Pathare Prabhus, among the earliest known settlers of the city, migrated to Mahikawati from Saurashtra in Gujarat. The Delhi Sultanate annexed the islands in 1347–48 and ruled them until 1407, during which they were administered by Muslim governors of Gujarat appointed by the sultanate. The islands were subsequently governed by the independent Gujarat Sultanate, established in 1407. Numerous mosques were built during the period, including the Haji Ali Dargah in Worli, erected in 1431 in honour of the Sufi saint Haji Ali. From 1429 to 1431, the islands were contested between the Gujarat Sultanate and the Bahmani Sultanate of the Deccan, and in 1493, Bahadur Khan Gilani of the Bahmani Sultanate attempted to conquer them but was repulsed.
Apprehensive of the power of the Mughal Empire under Humayun, Gujarat Sultan Bahadur Shah signed the Treaty of Bassein with the Portuguese on 23 December 1534, through which the seven islands of Bombay, along with Bassein and its dependencies, were ceded to the Portuguese on 25 October 1535. During Portuguese rule, the islands were leased to Portuguese officials, and the name Bombaim came into use. Roman Catholic religious orders, particularly Franciscans and Jesuits, established several churches such as St. Michael's Church at Mahim (1534), St. John the Baptist Church at Andheri (1579), St. Andrew's Church at Bandra (1580), and Gloria Church at Byculla (1632). They also constructed several fortifications including the Bombay Castle, Castella de Aguada, and Madh Fort. Recognising Bombay's strategic natural harbour, the British competed with the Portuguese for control of the islands. On 11 May 1661, the islands were transferred by the Portuguese to the English as part of Catherine of Braganza's dowry upon her marriage to Charles II of England.
Under the Royal Charter of 27 March 1668, the English Crown leased these islands to the East India Company for an annual rent of £10. Under the Company rule, the population grew rapidly from about 10,000 in 1661 to 60,000 by 1675. However, the islands faced several attacks and incursions by Yakut Khan, the Koli admiral of the Mughal Empire, in October 1672, Rickloffe van Goen, the governor-general of Dutch India on 20 February 1673, and Siddi admiral Sambal on 10 October 1673. In 1687, the East India Company transferred its headquarters from Surat to Bombay, and it later later became the headquarters of the Bombay Presidency in 1662. It continued to face incursions, including another attack by Yakut Khan in 1689–90.
Portuguese control in the region ended when the Marathas under Peshwa Baji Rao I captured Salsette in 1737, and Bassein in 1739. By the mid-18th century, Bombay had developed into a major trading centre, attracting migrants from across the Indian subcontinent. The British occupied Salsette on 28 December 1774, and through the Treaty of Surat (1775), sought to secure control of Salsette and Bassein, contributing to the outbreak of the First Anglo-Maratha War. British control of Salsette was officially confirmed through the Treaty of Purandar (1776) and the Treaty of Salbai (1782), which formally settled the conflict.
From 1782, the British undertook major engineering works to unite Bombay's seven islands by means of a causeway, the Hornby Vellard, completed by 1784. In 1817, the East India Company under Mountstuart Elphinstone defeated Baji Rao II, the last Peshwa of the Marathas in the Battle of Khadki, ending the resistance from native powers and established British control over the Deccan and the Bombay Presidency. As Bombay's economic importance grew rapidly, connectivity was improved and India's first passenger railway opened between Bombay and Thana on 16 April 1853. During the American Civil War (1861–1865), the disruption of cotton supplies from the United States transformed the city into a major cotton-trading centre globally, resulting in a significant economic boom. The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 transformed Bombay into one of the largest seaports on the Arabian Sea and enhanced its strategic importance. However, the city was hit by a bubonic plague epidemic that killed more than 20,000 people and caused many residents to flee, significantly affecting the textile industry and its economy. In the 20th century, Bombay also became an important centre of the Indian independence movement, hosting the 1942 session of the Indian National Congress that launched the Quit India Movement, and the Royal Indian Navy Mutiny of 1946.
After India's independence in 1947, the Bombay Presidency was reorganised into Bombay State, which was later expanded through the integration of several princely states, with Bombay serving as its capital. In April 1950, the Mumbai suburban and city districts were merged to create the Greater Bombay Municipal Corporation. During the 1950s, the Samyukta Maharashtra movement intensified, demanding a separate Marathi-speaking state with Bombay as its capital. However, debate continued over the city's status, with the Congress advocating for Bombay to become an autonomous city-state in 1955. While the States Reorganisation Committee proposed a bilingual state of Maharashtra–Gujarat with Bombay as its capital in 1955, the Bombay Citizens' Committee, representing Gujarati industrialists, lobbied for an independent status for the city.
Following widespread protests in which 105 people died in clashes with law enforcement, Bombay State was reorganised along linguistic lines on 1 May 1960, creating the separate states of Maharashtra and Gujarat. The Gujarati-speaking regions became Gujarat, while Maharashtra was formed by combining the Marathi-speaking areas of Bombay State with territories from Central Provinces and Berar, Hyderabad State, and other princely states, with Bombay as its capital. The Flora Fountain was renamed Hutatma Chowk (Martyr's Square), and a memorial was erected in memory of those who died during the Samyukta Maharashtra movement.
Since the 1960s, Bombay experienced rapid expansion with areas such as Nariman Point and Cuffe Parade were reclaimed from the sea and developed. Industrialisation expanded the petrochemicals, electronics, and automobiles sectors. Major petroleum refineries such as the Mumbai Refinery at Trombay and BPCL Refinery were established. To coordinate the growing metropolitan region, the Government of Maharashtra established the Bombay Metropolitan Region Development Authority in 1975 to oversee planning and development across the city and its surrounding areas. In 1979, New Bombay was established by the City and Industrial Development Corporation from parts of Thane and Raigad districts as a planned satellite township to accommodate Mumbai's rapidly growing population. The Great Bombay Textile Strike, which involved nearly 250,000 workers across more than 50 mills, resulted in the shutdown of several textile mills, which were redeveloped later. On 26 May 1989, the Jawaharlal Nehru Port was commissioned at Nhava Sheva to relieve congestion at the Mumbai Harbour. In 1990, Greater Bombay was administratively divided into separate city and suburban revenue districts, although both continued to be governed by the same municipal administration.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Mumbai”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.