Mumbai's Seven islands Story | journey of the islands to the great city

Do you know how difficult it was to building Mumbai city? when I say about the building, it doesn't mean to build economy & lifestyle. It means making the land of Mumbai, and In this process, British and Portugal play a more significant role.

Do you Know Mumbai was an archipelago of seven islands?
Also, these Mumbai's seven islands given to England's king
as a dowery?

These seven islands had an ancient history too.

In east Mumbai, Kandivali history evidence proved that this island exists from the middle age; also, these seven islands were known as Heptanesia in the 3rd century. This archipelago was also part of the Maurya Empire when Ashoka was the king. Its rule by Satvahana Empire and further Hindu Silhara kings until 1343. the Gujarat Sultanate Sultan Bahadur Shah later governed it from 1391 to 1534. Growing apprehensive of the power of the Mughal emperor Humayun, Sultan Bahadur Shah of the Gujarat Sultanate was obliged to sign the Treaty of Bassein with the Portuguese Empire on 23 December 1534. According to the treaty, the seven islands of Bombay were offered to the Portuguese on 25 October 1535. They called the islands by various names, which finally took the written form Bombaim. 

On the other side, the British were in constant struggle with the Portuguese vying for hegemony over Bombay. They recognized its strategic natural harbor and its natural isolation from land-attack. So they make a marriage proposal to Portugal king's daughter Catherine with England's King Charles II, and in dowry, he gets Mumbai's islands. But Charles II found communication problems among Mumbai's seven islands. Hence, he gives it to the East India company on leased for just 10 pounds.

From here, the story of the new Mumbai city started.

But let know about Mumbai's seven Islands:

1.Colaba: whose name is a corruption of the Koli name Kolbhat.

2.little Colaba(Old Woman's Island): a small rock between Colaba and Bombay, whose name is a corruption of the Arabic name Al-Omani, after the deep-sea fishermen who ranged up to the Gulf of Oman.

3.Bombay island: the oldest island and also mentioned in Maurya's history. Which is expand from Dongari to Malabar hills.

4.Mazagaon: it is known as fisherman's village

5.Worli: on this island, Haji Ali Dargah was constructed

6.Parel: North of Mazagaon and called by many other names, including Matunga, Dharavi, and Sion. The original population was predominantly Koli.

7.Mahim: to the west of Parel and north of Worli, took its name from the Mahim river and was the capital of a 13th-century kingdom founded by Raja Bhimdev.

In 1686, the East India Company shifted its primary holdings from Surat to Bombay, which had become the administrative center of all the west coast settlements. Bombay was placed at the head of all the Company's establishments in India. Many Indian and British merchants' arrival led to Bombay's trade by the end of the seventeenth century. Hence, the government and private companies started to need land to open their factories and offices here. Due to a lack of land and communication, East India Company decided to connect Mumbai's seven islands. 

In 1782, William Hornby assumed Governor of Bombay's office and initiated the Hornby Vellard engineering project of uniting the seven islands into a single landmass. He made a causeway from Worli and Mahalaxmi to block the Worli creek and prevent the low-lying areas of Bombay from being flooded at high tide. However, the project was rejected by the British East India Company in 1783. Even Hornby ordered the work to be started after the East India Company turned down his proposal; and continued as Governor till the end of his term in 1785, ignoring the suspension notice sent to him. In 1784, the Hornby Vellard project was completed, and soon reclamations at Worli and Mahalaxmi followed. In 1838, the islands of Colaba and Little Colaba were connected to Bombay by the Colaba Causeway.1844. Avabai Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy funded the Mahim Causeway construction to connect Mahim to Bandra, and the work was completed in 1845.

Before the end of the 19th century, the British almost connected all of Mumbai's seven islands, and Mumbai's total area becomes 484 square kilometres. At the beginning of the 20th century, Mumbai became India's 2nd most populated city after Kolkata.

Finally, In the year 1995, Bombay was renamed to Mumbai.

So, this was the story of Mumbai's Seven island story. Thank you.