Bombai von der Landseite.

Title

Bombai von der Landseite.

Description

Decorative view of the city Mumbay( Bombay) in India from 1830.

ca. 1830

Artist

Anonymus

Historical Description

Today's peninsula in the southern part of the island of Salsette with the city center of Mumbai is the result of intensive land reclamation measures that continue to this day. Before the arrival of the Europeans and into the 17th century, the area consisted of seven separate islands, five of which (Bombay, Mahim, Mazagaon, Parel and Worli) were grouped in a circle around a lagoon. Archaeological finds of hand axes and other stone tools suggest an early settlement of the archipelago. Drawid fishermen (Kolis) lived before the Aryan immigration around 1500 BC. The region. Aryan settlers left their first traces in the 8th century BC. The era of European rule began with the construction of a fort and a factories by the colonists on the island of Bombay, which lasted over 400 years until August 14, 1947, the day of India's independence. For two millennia until the arrival of the Europeans, today's Mumbai region belonged to various empires, including the Maurya Empire (until 185 BC), the Shatavahana Empire (until 220 AD) and the Kshatrapa Empire ( to about 300 AD). At the beginning of the 7th century, the country was conquered by the Chalukyas, who put Hinduism back in the foreground after a centuries-long Buddhist period. From the 8th century, Jews from Yemen and adherents of the religion of Zarathustra from Persia, who had fled there before the onslaught of the Islamic conquerors, settled on the west coast of India. Until the end of the 13th century, various dynasties ruled this rather insignificant and remote area. The village of Puri on the island of Elephanta was the largest settlement in the region until then. In the 13th century, the legendary independent kingdom under King Raja Bhimdev existed in the area. He is considered the founder of Bombay. In 1508, the Portuguese explorer and trader Francisco de Almeida sailed with his ship into the deep natural harbor of the island of Bombay. Pleasantly impressed by the geography and conditions, he called them Bom Bahia (good bay)In 1585 the Franciscans and Jesuits owned the islands of Salsette, Bombay, Mahim, Parel and Worli. The religious communities' income from the trade in spices was considerable. In 1583 the first English merchants came to the Indian west coast. In 1612, an English fleet defeated the Portuguese in the Battle of Suvali (Swally) north of Surat. Thereupon the British East India Company established the first permanent commercial branch in the port city of Surat. In 1626 the British attacked Bombay and burned the Portuguese manor house. On June 23, 1661, the port and the island of Bombay were handed over to the King of England by a marriage contract between the English King Charles II and the Portuguese infanta Katharina von Braganza. The city retained the anglicized name Bombay, derived from the Portuguese "Bom Bahia". Gerald Aungier, the sixth governor (1669–1677), set himself the task of “planning the city that would be built with God's help”. At the beginning of the 18th century, the branch had actually become the administrative seat of the British East India Company. Bombay became India's commercial and cultural capital after India's independence from Great Britain in 1947.