While studying the modern history of Maharashtra it is very
important to study the history of Mumbai separately. Mumbai has developed
differently from the rest of the Maharashtra .As a capital and a port city it
attracted too much economic activities in the 18th and the 19th
century . In this article we are going to see the historical background behind
the modern city of Mumbai.
Mumbai- name and
meaning
Mumbai got its name from the Mumbadevi goddesses .Before it
got its today’s name there were many names which the rulers of that time had
given to it. Like the Portuguese ruler who first captured the port called it by
different names like Benjanbu, Maiyambu, Bom- Bahiya etc.
In Portuguese Bomb means Bay. Hence when British came to
India they named this city Bombay. Then in 1995 it is again renamed as Mumbai.
Today Mumbai consists of various islands like Kulaba ,Fort,
Byculla , Parel, Varli, Matunga and Mahim.
Before independence there was a state which consist of
today’s western Maharashtra and the Gujarat and this state was called as Bombay. After a lot of struggle the
Marathi speaking area got separated from the Bombay and the Guajarati speaking
region carved out into a different state name Gujarat . This demarcation took
place on 1st May 1960
Historical background for Mumbai
Mumbai found its evidences in the ancient historical sources
.The Greek mentioned Mumbai as ‘Heptanesia’ . So we can say that there was
Human civilization on the island of Mumbai from the very ancient times .
Many ruler ruled this area since then and from their sources
we got to know about the series of development took place in this large span of
time.
In the third century this island was under the control of
Mauryaas. We can see from the historical and the literary sources that the
Mauryas used this port for their commercial benefits . The Maruyan ruler Ashoka
had used this port to get connected with
the contemporary ruler in different parts of the world.
Then came the Satvahanas who ruled the part of Maharashtra
for the considerable amount of time. Actually it is not clear who came after
the Mauryas in Mumbai but it is widely believed that as the Satvahas
established their power in the Deccan and the Maharashtra they must have their
control over the Mumbai island .
So by this all historical evidence we can say that the
Mumbai island has a ancient civilization and there is a historical background
to it.
Mumbai in medieval Era
In India history the medieval era was so unstable as it saw
the constant wave of invader from the northwest border of india. There were
also a fight in the central India for the power over the India.
Towards the end of 15th century o the western coast a Portuguese traveller Vasco Da Gama reached. He came to India via sea route. During that time Babar was ruling the northern part of India but in Deccan was under the control of Bahadur shah.
Firstly Portuguese obtained the Vasai area from the Sultan
of Gujarat Bahadur shah. Then they extended their sway towards Tarapur , Mahim
and the Mumbai island . Hence the Mumbai was under the control of Portuguese
during the medieval times .
The Mumbai island was under the control of Portuguese for
some amount of time but then Portuguese ruler gifted this island as a dowry
during his daughters marriage to the King Charles second of England. Officially
Portuguese handover the Mumbai island to British on 1665.
Hence in the medieval era the Mumbai island was under the
control of total three rulers The British , Portuguese and the Bahadur shah.
Modern Historical background of Mumbai
After independence there
was a movement for the separation of Marathi speaking region from the Bombay state which consists of two state including today’s Gujarat and
the western Maharashtra. There were some suggestions that the Mumbai should be
kept separate and it should be made union territory due its unique importance.
Hence Maharashtra came into existence on 1st May
1960 with Mumbai as its capital. And the Gujarati speaking people got their
separate state.
Indian National Congress and the Mumbai
In 1885 under the guidance of retired British servant some
leading intellectual of the country decided to launched united party to fight
against the British . Firstly it was decided that the first session of Congress
should be organize in Pune but as Pune was fighting the epidemic of Plague the
venue was shifted to Mumbai.
This session was organized at the Gokuldas Tejpal Sanskrit
college of Mumbai. Womeshchandra Baneerje was the chairman of the first session
of the Indian national congress.
Hence Mumbai became the centre of all the activities of the
Indian national congress.
Total 72 delegates were present at the first session of
Indian National Congress from different parts of India. But in the initial days
majority of members were from Maharashtra and the Mumbai.
Quit India Movement and the Mumbai
The Quit India movement of 1942 was started from Mumbai. At
Mumbai Gandhiji gave the famous mantra of “Do or Die “. From Mumbai this
movement spread to other parts of country.
Some famous personalities of Mumbai
Mount Stuart Elphinstine
Governor of Bombay presidency from 1811 to 1827 . A liberal
minded person with a desire to develop Maharashtra in educational and
administrative sphere .
Jagganath Shankar Seth
He was called the sculpture of modern Mumbai. British had
given him the title of “Justice of the peace “. He had tremendous work in the
education sector. He founded the Bombay native Education society and also
helped various educational institutions to obtain fund.
In 1824 he founded Elphinstine school in Mumbai which later
converted in Elphinstine College in 1834.
He also worked for the education of women.
In social sphere always he had many noteworthy works. He
fought for the removal of Sati system and persuade the government to ban it
legally.
During 1837 he was successful in stopping Hindu –Muslim riots in Mumbai.
Jagannath Shankar Seth breathed his last on 31st July
1865. He was the true hero of Mumbai who gave a modern shape to it
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