After the death of Asoka, Bombay had been taken over
by various Hindu rulers until 1343. Mohammedans from Gujarat took the
possession in the same year and ruled for nearly two centuries. Then
came the Portuguese in1534 and kept the name 'Bom Baia'. Portuguese
built many buildings, churches and forts at Sion, Mahim, Bandra, and
Bassien.
The English East India Company took Mumbai on lease from the crown for
an annual sum of 10 pounds in gold in the year 1668. They shifted their
headquarter from Surat to Mumbai in 1687. They corrupted the Portuguese
name 'Bom Baia' to 'Bombay'. Kolis, the original fisher-folk inhabitants
of Mumbai used to call 'Mumba' after Mumbadevi, the Hindu goddess.
When Mr. Gerald Aungier became the governor of Bombay, he made the city
more populous by attracting Gujarati traders, Parsi ship-builders, and
Muslim and Hindu manufacturers from the mainland. Sir Robert Grant
(1779-1838) governor of Bombay from 1835 to 1838 constructed a number of
roads between Bombay and the hinterland.
The first railway line of India between Victoria Terminus and Thana was
inaugurated on 16th April 1853. The Great Indian Peninsular (GIP) and
the Bombay Baroda and Central India (BB&CI) Railway were started in
1860 and a regular service of steamers on the west coast was commenced
in 1869. After the Sepoy Mutiny or the First War of Independence, the
East India Company was accused of mismanagement and the islands of
Bombay were reverted to the British Crown.
Many buildings such as the Victoria Terminus, the General Post Office,
Municipal Corporation, the Prince of Wales Museum, Rajabai Tower and
Bombay University, Elphinstone College and the Cawasji Jehangir Hall,
the Crawford Market, the Old Secretariat (Old Customs House) and the
Public Works Department (PWD) Building were constructed in the later
half of the 19th century. The Gateway of India was built to commemorate
the visit of king George V and Queen Mary for the Darbar at Delhi in
1911.
Historic All India Congress Committee session was started on 7th of
August 1942 at Gowala Tank Maidan. Mahatma Gandhi gave 'Quit India' call
at this session. British arrested the Indian leaders soon afterwards but
the momentum of the Quit India movement could not be stopped and led to
the final withdrawal of the British on 15 August 1947.
After independence, the state of Bombay was split into Maharashtra and
Gujarat states in 1960 on linguistic basis, while the former retaining
Bombay city as its capital. The Congress party continued to rule
Maharashtra until 1994 when the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
replaced it. Later Bombay retained its original name Mumbai.
Find about the history and origin of Mumbai
city.