History of Mumbai
The city’s name Mumbai is supposed to be derived from the name of the goddess Mumbadevi. Mumba is the Goddess and Aai stands for mother in Marathi language and thus the present name Mumbai. The old names of the city are Bombay, Kakamuchee and Galajunkja. Earlier some Portuguese travellers had named the place as Bom Bahia which means Beautiful Bay in Portuguese. Later on the British named it as Bombay state.
The journey of the city Mumbai is supposed to be started in 1498 when the Portuguese travelers arrived at the place. As we know that the city was formed after the amalgamation of seven islands. These islands were taken over by the Portuguese from the Sultan of Gujarat. Later on, in 1661 when Catherine de Braganza married Charles II of England, the place was handed over to them. Not being so interested in the place, he leased it at £10 to the British East India Company. They used the place for trading and built harbor and fort making it a centre point of their trade and power in India. The process of combining all the islands was actually started by the British East India Company which went on till 1960s.
Gradually, the city got connected to the neighboring cities and many entrepreneurial communities started visiting the city for trading. Slowly and steadily many industries and companies were established here making it a major business hub in India, as it’s better recognized today.
