BOMBAY // MUMBAI

Mumbai (/mʊmˈbaɪ/; also known as Bombay, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India and the ninth most populous agglomeration in the world, with an estimated city population of 18.4 million. Along with the neighbouring regions of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, it is one of the most populous urban regions in the world and the second most populous metropolitan area in India, with a population of 21.3 million as of 2016.^[12][13][14] Mumbai lies on the west coast of India and has a deep natural harbour. In 2008, Mumbai was named an alpha world city.^[15] It is also the wealthiest city in India,^[16] and has the highest GDP of any city in South, West, or Central Asia.^[17] Mumbai has the highest number of billionaires and millionaires among all cities in India.^[18][19]

The seven islands that came to constitute Mumbai were home to communities of fishing colonies.^[20] For centuries, the islands were under the control of successive indigenous empires before being ceded to the Portuguese and subsequently to the British East India Company when in 1661 King Charles II married the Portuguese Catherine of Braganza, and as part of her dowry Charles received the ports of Tangier and seven islands of Bombay.^[21] During the mid-18th century, Bombay was reshaped by the Hornby Vellardproject,^[22] which undertook reclamation of the area between the seven islands from the sea.^[23] Along with construction of major roads and railways, the reclamation project, completed in 1845, transformed Bombay into a major seaport on the Arabian Sea. Bombay in the 19th century was characterised by economic and educational development. During the early 20th century it became a strong base for the Indian independence movement. Upon India's independence in 1947 the city was incorporated into Bombay State. In 1960, following the Samyukta Maharashtra movement, a new state of Maharashtra was created with Bombay as the capital.^[24]

Mumbai is the financial, commercial^[25] and entertainment capital of India. It is also one of the world's top ten centres of commerce in terms of global financial flow,^[26] generating 6.16% of India's GDP^[27] and accounting for 25% of industrial output, 70% of maritime trade in India (Mumbai Port Trust and JNPT),^[28] and 70% of capital transactions to India's economy.^[29][30] The city houses important financial institutions such as the Reserve Bank of India, the Bombay Stock Exchange, the National Stock Exchange of India, the SEBI and the corporate headquarters of numerous Indian companies and multinational corporations. It is also home to some of India's premier scientific and nuclear institutes like BARC, NPCL, IREL, TIFR, AERB, AECI, and the Department of Atomic Energy. The city also houses India's Hindi (Bollywood) and Marathi film and television industry. Mumbai's business opportunities, as well as its potential to offer a higher standard of living,^[31] attract migrants from all over India, making the city a melting pot of many communities and cultures

Etymology

The name Mumbai is derived from Mumbā or Mahā-Ambā—the name of the patron goddess (Kuladevi) Mumbadevi of the native Agri, Koli and Somvanshi Kshatriya communities—^[32] and ā'ī meaning "mother" in the Marathi language, which is the mother tongue of the kolis and the official language of Maharashtra.^[20][33]

The temple of local Hindu goddess Mumbadevi, from whom the city of Mumbai derives its name

The oldest known names for the city are Kakamuchee and Galajunkja; these are sometimes still used.^[34][35] In 1508, Portuguese writer Gaspar Correia used the name Bombaim, in his Lendas da Índia ("Legends of India").^[36][37] This name possibly originated as the Old Portuguese phrase bom baim, meaning "good little bay",^[38] and Bombaim is still commonly used in Portuguese.^[39] In 1516, Portuguese explorer Duarte Barbosa used the name Tana-Maiambu: Tana appears to refer to the adjoining town of Thane and Maiambu to Mumbadevi.^[40]

Other variations recorded in the 16th and the 17th centuries include: Mombayn (1525), Bombay (1538), Bombain (1552), Bombaym (1552), Monbaym (1554), Mombaim (1563), Mombaym (1644), Bambaye (1666), Bombaiim (1666), Bombeye (1676), Boon Bay (1690),^[39][41] and Bon Bahia.^[42] After the English gained possession of the city in the 17th century, the Portuguese name was anglicised as Bombay.^[43] Ali Muhammad Khan, imperial diwan or revenue minister of the Gujarat province, in the Mirat-i-Ahmedi (1762) referred to the city as Manbai.^[44]

By the late 20th century, the city was referred to as Mumbai or Mambai in the Indian statewise official languages of Marathi, Konkani, Gujarati, Kannada and Sindhi, and as Bambai in Hindi.^[45] The Government of India officially changed the English name to Mumbai in November 1995.^[46] This came at the insistence of the Marathi nationalist Shiv Sena party, which had just won the Maharashtra state elections, and mirrored similar name changes across the country and particularly in Maharashtra.^[47] According to Slate magazine, "they argued that 'Bombay' was a corrupted English version of 'Mumbai' and an unwanted legacy of British colonial rule."^[48] Slate also said "The push to rename Bombay was part of a larger movement to strengthen Marathi identity in the Maharashtra region."^[49] While the city is still referred to as Bombay by some of its residents and by Indians from other regions,^[50][51] mention of the city by a name other than Mumbai has been controversial, resulting in emotional outbursts sometimes of a violently political nature.^[52][53]

A resident of Mumbai is called mumbaikar in the Marathi language, in which the suffix kar means resident of. The term has been in use for quite some time but it gained popularity after the official name change to Mumbai.^[54]