The oldest history we have is that of the Magadh empire around 3rd century BC. The now NalaSopara was an established trade port of King Ashoka. It seems they left the islands to Fishermen and Buddhist monks.
(
Reference)Bombay changed hands many times. The islands belonged to the Silhara dynasty till the middle of the 13th century. The oldest structures in the archipelago--- the
caves at Elephanta, and 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 settled in Mumbai at this time. In 1343 the island of Salsette, and eventually the whole archipelago, passed to the Sultan of Gujarat. The mosque in
Mahim dates from this period.
Then it all started with jealousy. Spaniards were having an upper hand over the Portuguese. Christopher Columbus had accidentally discovered the new world when he had begun to discover India. Their hard rivals, the Portuguese imperatively had to discover the (route to) real India. With Vasco Da Gama, the first Portuguese arrived in India. The Indians discarded what they had brought in their ships (we had better quality materials anyways). The Original wanderers reported back to Portugal Royal elites that India w big. "They had big markets, so many people, long roads, big buildings. Everyone was so rich". But with other better goods carrying trips (Vasco Da Gama came thrice to India during his lifetime, dying here in his last trip), they slowly spread their wings in India.
(Reference)In 1508 Francis Almeida sailed into the deep natural harbour of the island his countrymen came to call Bom Bahia (the Good Bay). Bahadur Shah of Gujarat was forced to cede the main islands to the Portuguese in 1534, before he was murdered by the proselytizing invaders. The Portuguese built a fort in Bassein. They were not interested in the islands, although some fortifications and a few chapels were built 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. Eventually, in 1661, Catherine of Braganza brought 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 a Bombay whose place in history was finally secure.
The web of commerce which had supported the civilisation of the Indian Ocean littoral had died with the coming of the Europeans. The Mughal empire in Delhi was not interested in navies-- despising the Portuguese and the British as ``merchant princes''. The second governor of Bombay, Gerald Aungier, saw the opportunity to develop the islands into a centre of commerce to rival other ports still in the hands of local kingdoms. He offered various inducement to skilled workers and traders to move to this British holding. The opportunities for business attracted many Gujarati communities--- the Parsis, the Bohras, Jews and banias from Surat and Diu. The population of Bombay was estimated to have risen from 10,000 in 1661 to 60,000 in 1675.
Slowly the Portugese had captured much of the southern ports of India (The current Kozhikode (Calicut) and Pondicherry still carries the remnants of their "culture"). The britishers had to find a landing place in India. Their ships circumvented the Portugese ships and beachheads across the western southern coast and went a little north. To establish a small port. They picked Surat.
(
Reference)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 the heroic period in 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-km long
railway line between Thana 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.
That is how the 7 islands came upon being. It began existing. Slowly, with more and more trade, more infrastructure was required. People were required. The Marwari community began traveling humongous distances to sell their stuff. It began breathing. Nothing to take away from Kolkata, as it was the Britishers' original start up port. But the point is, that is how Mumbai began its life.
With more Gujrati people coming here armed with their business skills and community supportive work culture, it slowly established itself as a business destination. It follows logically that with the business culture and performance orientation, the skills and ability of a person would take the center stage. They would become more important than the origin of the person, or to which community or region the person belongs to. Without introducing any kind of bias on association of a person's community with her/his ability, people from different parts of the country began coming to the land of opportunity. With more favourable conditions, the place transformed itself, step by step, from a port to a residential place to a business hub to a (additionally) film city.
(
reference)The name Mumbai is derived from Mumba Devi, the patron goddess of the Kolis. The Kolis called her ' Mumba Aai' (Mother Mumba). From this word came Mumbai. The British, however, preferred to call the islands as Bombay. The name remained in practice till recent years. The temple of goddess Mumba Devi is still exists in Mumbai and the area around the temple is popularly known as Mumba Devi area
Given this background, I want to ask a question to everyone even remotely concerned with this city. Whose Mumbai is it? The Britishers? The Portuguese? The Gujrati Bohras/Parsis/Banias? The Marwari community? The Kamathis? The marathas? The kolis? The north Indian migrants?
