Mumbai

Mumbai (Marathi: ????? ) (pronounced {{IPA|/mum?a?i/}} in Marathi, and {{IPA|/mʊm'baɪ/}} in English), formerly known as Bombay ({{IPA2|bɒm'beɪ}}), is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra and is the most populous Indian city with a 2005 estimated population of about 13 million.{{ref|population}} Mumbai is located on Salsette Island off the west coast of India. Along with the neighbouring towns, it forms one of the world's most populous metropolitan areas, with an extended population of 17 million. The city, which has a deep natural harbour, is also the largest port in western India, handling over half of India's passenger traffic.

History

Present-day Mumbai was originally made up of seven isles. Artefacts

Related Topics:
Seven isles - Kandivali - Stone Age - 3rd century BCE - Maurya - Buddhist - Ashoka - Silhara dynasty - 1343 - Gujarat - Archipelago - Elephanta Caves - Walkeshwar temple complex

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In 1534, the Portuguese appropriated the islands from Bahadur Shah of Gujarat. They were ceded to Charles II of England in 1661 as dowry or, more appropriately, wedding gifts of Catherine de Braganza. They in turn were leased to the British East India Company in 1668 for a sum of £10 per annum. The company found the deep harbour at Bombay eminently apposite, and the population rose from 10,000 in 1661 to 60,000 by 1675. In 1687, the East India Company transferred their headquarters from Surat to Bombay.

Related Topics:
1534 - Bahadur Shah of Gujarat - Charles II of England - 1661 - Dowry - Catherine de Braganza - British East India Company - 1668 - £ - Per annum - Harbour - 1675 - 1687 - Surat

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From 1817 the city was reshaped, with large civil engineering projects aimed at merging the islands into a single amalgamated mass. This project, the Hornby Vellard, was completed by 1845 and resulted in the area swelling to 438 km². Eight years later, in 1853, India's first railway line was established, connecting Bombay to Thana. During the American Civil War, (1861–1865) the city became the world's chief cotton market, resulting in a boom in the economy and subsequently in the city's stature. The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 transformed Bombay into one of the largest Arabian Sea ports.

Related Topics:
1817 - Civil engineering - Hornby Vellard - 1845 - Km² - 1853 - Railway - Thana - American Civil War - 1861 - 1865 - Cotton - Suez Canal - 1869

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The city grew into a major urban centre over the next thirty years, spurred by an improvement in the infrastructure and the construction of many of the city's institutions. The population of the city swelled to one million by 1906, making it the second largest in India, after Calcutta. It later became a major base for the Indian independence movement, with the Quit India Movement called by Mahatma Gandhi in 1942 being its most rubric event. After independence, the city incorporated parts of the island of Salsette, expanding to its present day limits in 1957. It became the capital of the new linguistic state of Maharashtra in 1960.

Related Topics:
1906 - Calcutta - Indian independence movement - Quit India Movement - Mahatma Gandhi - 1942 - 1957 - Maharashtra - 1960

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In the late 1970s Bombay witnessed a construction boom, with a significant increase in population owing to the influx of migrants. By 1986 it had overtaken Calcutta as the most populated Indian city. The city's secular fabric was torn in 1992, after large-scale Hindu-Muslim riots caused extensive losses to life and property. A few months later, on March 12, simultaneous bombings of the city's establishments by the underworld killed around three hundred. In 1995, the city was renamed Mumbai after the right wing Shiv Sena party came into power in Maharashtra, in keeping with their policy of renaming colonial institutions after historic local appellations.

Related Topics:
1970s - 1986 - Calcutta - 1992 - Hindu - Muslim - Riot - March 12 - Simultaneous bombings - Underworld - Right wing - Shiv Sena

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