Bombay Presidency

 

Bombay Presidency

Bombay islands were given to Great Britain by the Portuguese royal family in 1661. The British king Charles II had married the Portuguese Princess viz. Catherine of Braganza. Due to this royal marriage the Bombay islands were handed over to the British royalty as a dowry. Hence, in 1661 the British established Bombay Presidency.

In 1668 these islands were given to the British East Company by the British monarch. The East India Company was the British Trading Company which was established on 31^st December 1600. The East India Company had an interest to have trade with eastern countries like India.

The British East India Company established its factories at places like Masulipatnam and Surat. Subsequently it entered Bengal and also built factory at Madras. In Bengal the British traders developed Calcutta city. After the Battle of Plassey of 1757 British started the process of conquest of Bengal and logically concluded it after the Regulating Act of 1773. Warren Hastings became the first Governor General of Bengal.

In respect with Bombay islands even though British East India Company got the control of it in 1668, it was only in 1703 it became the centre of British East India Company’s activities on Western coast of India. Before that it was a subordinate territory to Surat, where British East India Company had established a trading post or factory  with the permission of Jehangir, the then Mughal Emperor.

In 1818 the British defeated Baji Rao II, the last Maratha Peshwa. Subsequently, Marathi speaking areas were added to Bombay Presidency. The Bombay Presidency included the parts of Western Maharashtra, Northern Karnataka and Coastal Karnataka, Maharashtra Konkan, parts of Gujarat, Sindh (in present day Pakistan). It also included the city of Aden in present day Yemen (an Arabian country).

It included the twenty six districts such as Bombay City, Bombay Island, Ahmedabad, Bharuch, Kaira, Panch Mahal, Surat, Thana, Ahmednagar, East Khandesh, West Khandesh, Nasik, Poona, Satara, Solapur, Belgaum, Bijapur, Dharwad, North Kanara, Kolaba, Ratnagiri, Karachi, Hyderabad, Shikarpur, Thar and Parkar and Upper Sind Frontier.

Karachi was the main city in Sindh area, Ahmedabad was the main city in Gujarati speaking districts, Poona was the centre of Marathi speaking areas and Belgaum was an important city in Kannada speaking districts. Bombay City was the capital or headquarters of Bombay Presidency .

The overall administration of Bombay Presidency was looked after by the Governor. Mountstuart Elphinstone was one of the popular Governors of Bombay Presidency.

The first train in India ran in Bombay Presidency between the cities of Bombay and Thana on 16 April 1853. Bombay City was the major textile town in India. There were several textile mills in Bombay City by the beginning of 20^th century. Some of the major reasons for the development of textile mills in Bombay were humid climate, major cotton producing areas in interior parts of Bombay Presidency and connectivity of  Bombay City with these parts by railways and road. The big cotton bazzar in Bombay City was located at a place called as Cotton Green. Bombay was also developed as one of the major ports in Western India during British period.

Bombay Presidency had major educational institutes, especially in Bombay City and even in Poona. As far Bombay City was concerned it had Elphinstone College, Government Law College, Sydenham College, Wilson College, St. Xavier’s College and University of Bombay (now University of Mumbai). The University of Bombay was established in the year1857. Even the first feature film in India was made in Bombay City or Bombay Presidency. Dadasaheb Phalke is considered as the first film maker in India. Dadasaheb Phalke made the first film in India titled ‘Raja Harishchandra’.

As mentioned above Mountstuart Elphinstone was one of the prominent Governors of Bombay Presidency. When the first train tan between Bombay City to Thana the Governor of Bombay Presidency was Lord Falkland and Sir John Colville was the last British Governor of Bombay Presidency.

After the independence of India from British rule in 1947 Sindh became part of present day Pakistan. And Marathi, Gujarati and Kannada speaking areas became the parts of Maharashtra, Gujarat and Karnataka States respectively in due course of time.