History of Bombay under Portuguese rule (1534–1661)

The Delhi Sultanate had been ruling the area along with Chaul, New Bombay (Thana) & Damaon; with the local administration at Bassein (Vasai) since the raids of Malik Kafur in the Konkan region and across the Indian subcontinent.

This territory in North Konkan along with the Bombay islands were later taken over by the Sultan of Guzerat from 1391 to 1534, when he had declared the end of the suzerainty to Delhi, after the Timurid invasion of it.

The Portuguese in Goa-Anjediva and Bombay-Bassein were actively involved in the foundation and growth of their Latin Christian religion in Bombay and the neighbouring area.

The Marriage Treaty of Charles II of England and Catherine de Braganza, daughter of John IV of Portugal was proposed on 23 June, 1661.

[2] The East India company was initially at odds with the Portuguese viceroy and vying for hegemony over the seven islands of what would become the capital city of the British Bombay Presidency, as both the English and the Portuguese recognised Bombay Harbour's strategic isolation from land-based attacks such as the sack of Surat and the sackings of Goa-Anjediva and Bombay-Bassein.

[7] Important strategic towns located near Bombay were Bassein (Baçaim) to the north, Thana to the east, and Chaul to the south.

[10] Portuguese explorer Francisco de Almeida's ship sailed into the deep natural harbour of Bombay in December 1508 on his expedition from Cannanore to Diu.

Nuno da Cunha, the viceroy of Goa, commanded the largest fleet seen in India, which passed through Bombay Harbour.

In consequence of this success, and later of Nuno da Cunha's capture of Bassein in January 1533, the islands of Bombay and Mahim, together with Bandra, became tributary to the Portuguese.

The dynasty was founded when Babur, hailing from Ferghana (in modern-day Uzbekistan), invaded parts of North India and defeated Ibrahim Shah Lodhi, the ruler of Delhi Sultanate, at the First Battle of Panipat in 1526.

He dispatched his chief officer Xacoes (Shah Khawjeh) to Nuno da Cunha with an offer to hand over the seven islands of Bombay together with Bassein, its dependencies, and revenues by sea and land.

[18] In the general distribution of estates which occurred after 1534, Bombay Island was leased to Mestre Diogo for an annual rent of 1,432½ pardaos (about Rs.

[29] Between 1545 and 1548, during the viceroyalty of João de Castro (1545-7), the four villages of Parel, Wadala, Sion, and Worli were granted to Manuel Serrão for an annual payment of 412 pardaos (Rs.

[22] In 1554, during the viceroyalty of Pedro Mascarenhas, the seven islands of Bombay were leased to Garcia de Orta, a Portuguese physician and botanist, for a yearly rent equivalent to about £85 sterling.

Orta had fled Portugal to escape the trials of the Portuguese Inquisition, established in 1536, that kept an eye on Jewish families converted to Catholicism and severely persecuted them in case of real or imagined relapse on their former faith.

During his regime, as regards the population of the island, Bombay was composed of seven villages subordinate to two cacabas (kashas) or chief stations, at which customs-duty was levied.

The Kolis, a fishing community, formed the most numerous class of people, and dwelt in most parts of Bombay from Colaba in the south to Sion and Mahim in the north.

Other Hindu communities residing were, the Kunbis and Agris (Curumbins) (who cultivated the fields and sowed them with rice and all sorts of pulse), the Malis (who tended the orchards), and the Piaes (men-at-arms) (who were Bhandaris).

The other three communities mentioned by Orta as residents in Bassein and its surrounding tracts were Baneanes (Banias), Coaris or Esparcis (Parsis), and Deres (Dheds or Mahars) or Farazes.

[42] The Portuguese Franciscans had obtained practical control of Salsette and Mahim by 1585, and built Nossa Senhora do Bom Conselho (Our Lady of Good Advice, affiliated to igreja de São Miguel / St. Michael's Church in 1596) at Sion and Nossa Senhora da Salvação (Our Lady of Salvation, popularly referred as "Portuguese Church") at Dadar in 1596.

The British emerged victorious in the battle, and the Portuguese defeat was a significant event in marking the beginning of the end of their commercial monopoly over western India.

[47] In 1654, the British East India Company drew the attention of Oliver Cromwell, the Lord protector of the short lived Commonwealth, to this suggestion by the Surat Council, laying great stress upon its excellent harbour and its natural isolation from land-attacks.

[48] By the middle of the seventeenth century the growing power of the Dutch Empire forced the English to acquire a station in western India.

[51] However, Salsette (including Bandra), Mazagaon, Parel, Worli, Sion, Dharavi, Wadala and Elephanta island still remained under Portuguese possession, as much as Thane or Vasai.

[53][54] The historical period of Portuguese colonial rule in the seven original islands of Bombay (1534–1665) and in the remaining territory of the Northern Province of the Estado da Índia (1534–1739) has been scantly researched.

During the second half of the 19th century, Dr. J Gerson da Cunha, a Bombayite of Goan origin, began compiling information on the subject and published some books and articles.

[55] Later, Braz Fernandes, an East-Indian, took up da Cunha's work and provided more in depth studies, especially about the Island of Salsette (Shashti) and the ruins in Vasai.