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. 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 23 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.
Copyright © 2020 by Dyarne Ward
and Kathiresan Ramachanderam
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