Bombay to Mumbai

Deviating momentarily, Count Down will return to Religions of India, rounding out an intriguing study of India’s most prominent faiths with Hinduism and Islam. For now, however, we are going take a peek at another interesting fact about India. How did the famous city of Bombay come to be known as Mumbai?

I have said it before, and I will surely say it again, but I do not want to run the risk of making this a history lesson. So to avoid that all together, here is just a brief rundown of some very interesting facts about this wealthy Indian city, which is the 6^th most populated city in the world.

-          Mumbai is not only the 6^th most populated city in the world, but it is the largest city in India with over 20.5 million people. It is the capital of the Indian state Maharashtra.

-          In 2009, Mumbai became an Alpha World City, simply meaning that the city is a “specialized city”, integral to the global economic system.

-          Unfortunately, with growth and change come terror and unrest. This technological hub and commerce super power has been the back drop for many terrorist attacks, bombings and protests. The most recent act of violence was July 2011.

-          The “Seven Islands” make up the land mass of Mumbai. They are: Bombay Island, Parel, Mazagaon, Mahim, Colaba, Worli, and OldWoman’s all of which were fishing colonies before the rule of several empires commenced.

Now, for the tale behind the name…actually it is not as intriguing as I thought it would be, but here it is anyway. In actuality, Bombay, (which is a misnomer, you’ll see why in a moment) is a name given by the Portuguese. But Bombay was not the cities only name, in fact, depending on the region or the family in power the city that sits on a “bay” was called many things, from Kakamuchee to Galajunkja. Manbai and Bombaim were commonly used in the 16^th century. Even more names existed throughout the centuries. Debates about the name of the city played out between historians and scholars like Jose Pedro Machado who rejected the idea that the Portuguese name Bombay (Bom Bahia) meant “good little bay”. He feels the toponym had nothing to do with a bay at all and that the word was mistranslated. Also, the literal translation of “Bombay” from Portuguese would be bom=good (masculine) and ba(h)ia=bay(feminine). Those of us who have studied romance language know that masculine and feminine must agree, raising the notion that “Bombay” should have been “Boa Bahia”, (“boa” being feminine).

Either way, Bombay was the widely excepted name as Roman Catholicism was a widely excepted religion during European rule. Mumbai, which was always among the historical references as title for the city, emerged as the official name for the city in the late 20^th century. It seems this fact is less controversial, as some believe (as they have tried to modify history) that “Bombay” was merely a British mispronunciation. This seems unlikely though, as “Bambai” is still a pronunciation of the Hindus and Persians today. More likely, it is an attempt to write out an “unwanted legacy of British colonial rule”.

So the mystery is solved. Bombay is now Mumbai…officially. But as with most changes, those of the old school still refer to the ancient city as Bombay. What remains true is that whatever you decide to call it, this up and coming nucleus for commerce, entertainment, trade and technology will hold its place on the map for years to come.

Note: The main source for this piece was good old Wikipedia (Wikipedia.org/Mumbai). In this article there were actually over 15 other variations for the name of the city now known as Mumbai.