History of Mumbai - Portuguese Period

Portuguese Period

The Portuguese were actively involved in the foundation and growth of their religious orders in Bombay. The islands were leased to Mestre Diogo in 1534. The San Miguel (St. Michael Church) in Mahim, one of the oldest churches in Bombay, was built by the Portuguese in 1540. Parel, Wadala, Sion, and Worli were granted to Manuel Serrão between 1545 and 1548, during the viceroyalty of João de Castro. Mazagaon was granted to Antonio Pessoa in 1547. Salsette was granted for three years to João Rodrigues Dantas, Cosme Corres, and Manuel Corres. Trombay and Chembur were granted to Dom Roque Tello de Menezes, and the Island of Pory (Elephanta Island) to João Pirez in 1548. Garcia de Orta, a Portuguese physician and botanist, was granted the possession of Bombay in 1554 by viceroy Pedro Mascarenhas.

The Portuguese encouraged intermarriage with the local population, and strongly supported the Roman Catholic Church. In 1560, they started proselytising the local Koli, Kunbi, Kumbhar population in Mahim, Worli, and Bassein. These Christians were referred to by the British as Portuguese Christians, though they were Nestorian Christians who had only recently established ties with the Roman Catholic Church. During this time, Bombay's main trade was coconuts and coir. After Antonio Pessoa's death in 1571, a patent was issued which granted Mazagaon in perpetuity to the Sousa e Lima family. The St. Andrew Church at Bandra was built in 1575.

The annexation of Portugal by Spain in 1580 opened the way for other European powers to follow the spice routes to India. The Dutch arrived first, closely followed by the British. The first English merchants arrived in Bombay in November 1583, and travelled through Bassein, Thane, and Chaul. The Portuguese Franciscans had obtained practical control of Salsette and Mahim by 1585, and built Nossa Senhora de Bom Concelho (Our Lady of Good Counsel) at Sion and Nossa Senhora de Salvação (Our Lady of Salvation) at Dadar in 1596. The Battle of Swally was fought between the British and the Portuguese at Surat in 1612 for the possession of Bombay. Dorabji Nanabhoy, a trader, was the first Parsi to settle in Bombay in 1640. Castella de Aguada (Fort of the Waterpoint) was built by the Portuguese at Bandra in 1640 as a watchtower overlooking the Mahim Bay, the Arabian Sea and the southern island of Mahim. The growing power of the Dutch by the middle of the seventeenth century forced the Surat Council of the British Empire to acquire Bombay from King John IV of Portugal in 1659. The marriage treaty of Charles II of England and Catherine of Portugal on 8 May 1661 placed Bombay in British possession as a part of Catherine's dowry to Charles.