Bandra ([bæːɳɖɾa]) is a coastal suburb located in Mumbai, the largest city of the Konkan division in Maharashtra, India.

The area is located to the immediate north of the River Mithi, which separates Bandra from the Mumbai City district.

[2] It is the third-largest commercial hub in Maharashtra, after the Mumbai City and Pune, primarily aided by the Bandra Kurla Complex.

A number of prominent residents of Bandra are celebrities or VIPs who are active in Bollywood, media, cricket or politics.

"[7] It is described by Duncan Forbes's A Dictionary, Hindustani and English (1848) as "a city; an emporium; a port, harbor; a trading town to which numbers of foreign merchants resort".

The area was part of Portuguese Bombay territory extending from Damaon to Chaul, before its acquisition by the English East India Company.

In 1534, Diego da Silveira, a pirate from the Mediterranean, entered Bandra's creek and burned the fishing town he found there.

By the time he died 11 years later, Father Gomes' "invincible strength of soul", as one historian describes it, had helped convert close to 6,000 people in the area.

Bandra officially became a possession of the Portuguese East Indies, when the Sultanate of Cambay ceded Bandra and adjacent areas via the Treaty of Bassein (1534), which was signed aboard the brig named Sao Mateus (St Matthew) at Vasai (Bassein) harbour, aided by Governor-General Nuno da Cunha and Diego da Silveira.

The Portuguese enfeoffed (gave) Bandra, Kurla, Mazgaon and four other villages in 1548 to António Pessoa; as a reward for his military services.

[citation needed] As these villages were given for a period of "two lives", they reverted to the Portuguese Crown after the death of Isabel Botelha, Pessoa's widow.

In 1568, the Jesuits who had applied for acquisition of these villages in anticipation of Isabel's death, obtained them from the Portuguese viceroy in Goa, they received royal confirmation from Lisbon, in 1570.

Their Jesuit missionaries, who learned local languages and cultures, attracted many Indian converts to Western Christianity (Catholicism) among the natives of the island.

[15] Bandra became part of English territory with the signing of the Treaty of Surat in 1775, but was retroceded to the Marathas in 1779 during the First Anglo-Maratha War.

In 1802, Baji Rao II signed the Treaty of Bassein with the English, surrendering sovereignty and again ceding Bandra, and it remained under British control until 14 August 1947.

[citation needed] On closer scrutiny, it is evident how railway tracks bunched together make up each of the iron pillars, that hold up the roof over the platforms.

In the early 1900s, the affluent Pathare Prabhu community lived in South Mumbai, and used their quaint bungalows in the Khar part of Bandra as weekend dwellings.

Bandra consisted of many villages, among them Sherly, Malla, Rajan, Kantwady, Waroda, Ranwar, Boran, Khar Danda, Pali, and Chuim.

[citation needed] The Bandra Fair is held during the eight days of the Octave of the Nativity of Our Lady, beginning 8 September, when people throng the church.

St. Joseph's Convent High School for girls is run by the nuns of the congregation of the Daughters of the Cross in Bandra West.

The paintings on walls are principally located in the vicinity of Chapel Road and Veronica Street, but prominent works are also visible near the Bandstand and Mount Mary Church.

It was created by Ranjit Dahiya (from the Bollywood Art Project) and other artists including Yantr, Munir Bukhari and Nilesh Kharade as part of the St+art Mumbai festival in 2014.

The part of Bandra located on the western side of the railway line developed into a fashionable suburb by the middle of the 20th century.

The Bandra–Worli Sea Link bridge connects Bandra West with Worli, located in central Mumbai.