The Queen's Necklace, Mumbai History

Marine Drive, the Queen’s Necklace, reveals jacks-like concrete seawall protectors for Mumbai; (c) Soul Of America

Mumbai History

Mumbai History begins with the Koli tribe of fishermen who were the earliest inhabitants of the present-day city. It was a maritime trade outpost with Persia and Egypt in 1000 BC.

In the 2nd century AD, it was known as Heptanesia to Ptolemy, the ancient Egyptian astronomer, and geographer.

The city was ruled in the 6th–8th century by the Chalukyas, who left their mark on Elephanta Island. The Walkeswar Temple at Malabar Point was probably built during the 9th–13th century.

In the 11th-13th century, a settlement on Bombay Island was founded in response to raids from the north by the Khalji dynasty of Hindustan in 1294.

In 1348 the island was conquered by invading Muslim forces and became part of the kingdom of Gujarat.

In 1534 Sultan Bahādur Shah, the ruler of Gujarat ceded the island to the Portuguese.

In 1661 it came under British control as part of the marriage settlement between King Charles II and Catherine of Braganza, sister of the king of Portugal. The crown ceded it to the East India Company in 1668. “Bombay”, as it was called by the British.

15th century Haji Ali Dargah historic site, Mumbai

Haji Ali Dargah historic site built in the 15th century, Mumbai; credit Wiki HumFur

By the early 1800s, the decay of Mughal power in Delhi, the Mughal-Maratha rivalries, and the instability in Gujarat drove artisans and merchants to the islands for refuge, and Bombay began to grow.

By 1860, the city had become the largest cotton market in India. The American Civil War (1861–65) and the resulting cut-off of cotton supplies to Britain caused a trade boom in Bombay. When the Civil War ended, Bombay cotton prices crashed. By that time, however, Bombay had become a strong center of import trade.

The opening in 1869 of the Suez Canal enhanced Bombay’s trade with Europe. As the population increased, overcrowded conditions became widespread. To make matters worse, a plague broke out in 1896.

A seawall in Back Bay reclaimed 1,300 acres of land and was not finished until after World War II, 1945. In postwar years suburban development began, and the administration of Bombay through a municipal corporation was extended to the suburbs of Bombay.

Under the British, the city served as the capital of the Bombay Presidency. From 1937-29, Marine Drive was built as a 2-mile-long curved waterfront promenade. Many restaurants line the road and most of the buildings were erected by wealthy Parsis in Art Deco style. Marine Drive is situated on reclaimed land and is known as the Queen’s Necklace because, when viewed at night from an elevated point along the drive, the street lights resemble a string of pearls in a necklace.

From 1956 until 1960, Bombay had intense Maratha protests against the 2-language (Marathi-Gujarati) makeup of Bombay, a legacy of British imperialism. Those protests led to the state’s partition into the modern states of Gujarat and Maharashtra in 1960, and Bombay was made the capital of Maharashtra that year.

The destruction of the Babri Masjid (“Muslim Mosque of Bābur”) in December 1992 sparked rioting in Bombay that lasted into early 1993 and caused the deaths of hundreds of people.

In 1995, the city name changed to Mumbai, the indigenous Marathi name for the city. But Mumbai had horrifically bad transportation and waterworks infrastructure.

In the early 21st century Mumbai experienced a number of terrorist attacks. A train was bombed in July 2006 and there was a simultaneous siege of several sites in the city in November 2008. Nearly 200 lives were lost in each of the two incidents. Things have calmed considerably since then between Hindu and Muslim populations, but do not consider it peaceful.

Mumbai continued to grow and prosper in the 21st century, in large part because of advances in the technology sector. The city’s infrastructure was improved considerably with the construction of new rapid transit lines, highways, bridges, and port facilities. Mumbai is home to three UNESCO World Heritage Sites: the Elephanta Caves, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, and the city’s ensemble of Victorian and Art Deco buildings designed in the 19th and 20th centuries.

In 2021, the Mumbai metropolis is a striking contrast between modern and colonial architecture, fine suburban homes, and infamous slums like those portrayed in the movie Slumdog Millionaire. Due to rapid population growth, the metro area is racing to build infrastructure faster to reduce overcrowded housing, traffic congestion, and environmental pollution.

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