Bombay - The Second Major British East India Company Trading Outpost In India

Approximately 91 years prior to the formation of the British East India Company, and 11 years after they reached Calicut, a Portuguese expedition landed on the Isle of Mahim, 1 of the 7 islands in the Bombay archipelago, in 1509. Realizing that the deep natural harbor was well suited to their needs, they sought an audience with the Sultan of Gujarat; Bombay was at the time under the control of the Gujarat Sultanate to seek permission to build a fort on the Isle of Mahim. The Gujarat Sultanate declined, and in 1517 the commander of the Gujarat Sultanate on the island was defeated and the Portuguese acquired Mahim.

The victory paved the way for a Portuguese expansion in Bombay and 9 years later the Portuguese established their first factory in Bassein. Following the building of the factory, some 2 years later, the reigning Sultan of Gujarat, Sultan Bahadur Shah, sent an emissary to the governor of Portuguese possessions in India, Nuna da Cunha, having suffered severe losses in the hands of the Mughals he was anxious to secure Portuguese friendship, and was more than willing to strike a bargain.

Cunha, who was not unaware of the district’s potential, asked for total control of the district, and a beleaguered Bahadur Shah was only too happy to concede, and Bassein was ceded to Nuna da Cunha together with its sea and land dependencies.

On the 23rd of April 1661, Charles II became king of Britain and a year later he married, in 1662, Catherine of Braganza, the daughter of King John IV, the first king of Portugal from the House of Braganza, and as a result of the union, Charles II was given the Bombay archipelago. Approximately 3 years later, on the 18th of January 1665, Charles II granted Humphrey Cooke the possession of Bombay but not entirely because certain islands and districts still remained in the hands of the Portuguese. Humphrey Cooke was appointed the first governor of the Bombay Presidency under the British East India Company.

Cooke and his successors continued to build settlements and factories in Bombay until 1673 when hostilities broke out with the Dutch East India Company. A year later, the Treaty of Westminster was signed and things returned to normal. 4 years later war would break out yet again, this time with the Mughals and the attacks on Bombay would continue until 1723, until the completion of the Bombay Castle, and the defensive structure around it which fortified Bombay against sea or naval attacks. Bombay would continue to be a major outpost for the British East India Company until the British Government took direct control of India in 1784.