Portugal Hands Over Bombay (Present Day Mumbai) to King Charles II of England in “Dowry”!

Posted on July 3, 2015 Updated on July 8, 2015

Mumbai today stands as the economic powerhouse of India. It is a thriving metro, finance centre, the booming industrial hub as well as the heart of the entertainment industry of the nation.

However, roughly three centuries ago Mumbai was nothing but a collection of seven swampy islands. The history of the islands can be traced back to 1000 years when they were a part of the Magadhan Empire. Later the region came to be ruled by the Silharas and around 1343, the region came under the rule of the Sultan of Gujarat.

The islands were captured by the Portuguese around 1534 and the region slowly turned into a trading centre where the trade of silk, muslin, chintz, onyx, rice, cotton and tobacco thrived. Soon a ship building yard was built, along with a great warehouse, a friary and a fort. With the growth in wealth and population, houses and mansions began to be constructed for the general people and the rich respectively. The place came to be called by the Portuguese as “Bom Bahia”, meaning ‘the good bay’ which later came to be called as Bombay by the British.

In 1661, King Charles II of England married Catherine of Braganza. As a marriage treaty the King was given a huge dowry by the Portuguese. As a part of that dowry, Portugal handed over the city of Bombay and Tangiers to Charles II on 3rd July 1661.

However, the King did not wish to be bothered with the ruling of these islands and subsequently in 1668 he rented out Mumbai to the East India Company then running a business in India from Surat for just 10 pounds of gold a year!

The rest is well known history.

Source: queensroyalsurreys.org.uk ; British Library ; The British Museum ; The Times of India ; Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai