Major territorial acquisitions were made by the company after Anglo-Maratha Wars when the whole of the Peshwa's dominions and much of the Gaekwad's sphere of influence were annexed to the Bombay Presidency in stages up until 1818.

[2] The districts and provinces of the presidency were directly under British rule, while the internal administration of the native or princely states was in the hands of local rulers.

In 1626 the Dutch and the English made an unsuccessful attempt to gain possession of the island of Bombay in the coastal Konkan region from Portugal, and in 1653 proposals were suggested for its purchase from the Portuguese.

In 1661 Bombay was ceded to the Kingdom of England as part of the dowry of the infanta Catherine of Braganza on her marriage to King Charles II.

At the time of the transfer, powers for the island's defence and for the administration of justice were also conferred on the company; a European regiment1 was enrolled; and fortifications were erected which in 1673 proved sufficient to deter the Dutch from an intended attack.

In western Gujarat, including Kathiawar and Kutch, the loosening of Mughal control allowed numerous local rulers to create virtually independent states.

The East India Company received the districts of Bharuch, Kaira, etc., and the Maratha Gaekwad rulers of Baroda acknowledged British sovereignty.

Baji Rao II, the last of the peshwas, who had attempted to shake off the British yoke, was defeated in the Battle of Khadki, captured subsequently and pensioned (1817/1818), and large portions of his dominions (Pune, Ahmednagar, Nasik, Solapur, Belgaum, Kaladgi, Dharwad, etc.)

His policy was to rule as far as possible on native lines, avoiding all changes for which the population was not yet ripe; but the grosser abuses of the old regime were stopped, the country was pacified, the laws were codified, and courts and schools were established.

The period that followed is notable mainly for the enlargement of the Presidency through the lapse of certain native states, by the addition of Aden (1839) and Sindh (1843), and the lease of the Panch Mahals from Scindia (1853).

Outbreaks among the troops at Karachi, Ahmedabad and Kolhapur were quickly put down, two regiments being disbanded, and the rebellions in Gujarat, among the Bhils, and in the southern Maratha country were local and isolated.

Under Sir Bartle Frere agricultural prosperity reached its highest point, as a result of the American Civil War and the consequent enormous demand for Indian cotton in Europe.

The money thus poured into the country produced an epidemic of speculation known as the Share Mania (1864–1865), which ended in a commercial crisis and the failure of the Bank of Bombay (1866).

Sir Bartle Frere encouraged the completion of the great trunk lines of railways, and with the funds obtained by the demolition of the town walls (1862) he began the magnificent series of public buildings that now adorn Bombay (Mumbai).

Some of the prominent Indian members of the Executive Council were Chimanlal Harilal Setalvad, R. P. Paranjpye, Ghulam Hussain Hidayatullah, Ali Muhammad Khan Dehlavi, Rafiuddin Ahmed, Siddappa Totappa Kambli, Shah Nawaz Bhutto and Sir Cowasji Jehangir.

Council of Ministers in Kher's Cabinet:[12][13] In 1939, all of the Congress ministries in the British Indian provinces resigned and Bombay was placed under the Governor's rule.

Within these limits were the Portuguese settlements of Goa, Daman and Diu, and the native state of Baroda which has direct relations with the government of India; while politically Bombay included the territory of Aden, in present-day Yemen.

In Gujarat the predominant religion remained Hinduism, although the Sultanate of Guzerat has left its influence and imprints in northern parts of the province.

The Konkan region was home to various Konkani Christian minorities and communities since the 16th century, due to the colonial era of the Portuguese in Goa and Bombay-Bassein.

Wheat, generally grown in the northern part of the Presidency, but specially in Sind and Gujarat, was exported to Europe in large quantities from Karachi, and on a smaller scale from Bombay.

In Khandesh the indigenous plant from which one of the lowest classes of cotton in the Bombay market takes its name has been almost entirely superseded by the superior Hinganghat variety.

Miscellaneous crops: sugarcane, requiring a rich soil and a perennial water-supply, and only grown in favoured localities, chile peppers, potatoes, turmeric and tobacco.

During the decade 1891–1901 the mill industry passed through a period of depression due to widespread plague and famine, but on the whole there was a marked expansion of the trade as well as a great improvement in the class of goods produced.

Many of the houses in Ahmedabad are covered with elaborate wood-carving, and excellent examples exist in Broach, Baroda, Surat, Nasik and Yeola.

Salt was made in large quantities in the government works at Kharaghoda and Udu in Ahmedabad, and was exported by rail to Gujarat and central India.

[22] Other producers at Bombay during the presidency era were Sohrab Modi, Himanshu Rai, V. Shantaram, Shashadhar Mukherjee, and Ardeshir Irani.

The native states eventually comprised some 353 separate units, administered internally by their own princes, with the British responsible for their external affairs.

These territories, with the exception of Kutch, have a historical connection, as being the allies or tributaries of the Gaekwad until 1805, when final engagements were included between that prince and the British government.

The remaining territories may conveniently be divided into a small cluster of independent zamindaris, situated in the wild and hilly tracts at the northern extremity of the Sahyadri range, and certain.