Historical factors

• Approximately 30% of Indians live in urban areas.
• Approximately 30% of Indians live in urban areas. This percentage is increasing as millions of country people migrate to cities in India in search of jobs, services and a better standard of living.
• The largest city in India is Mumbai.
• Mumbai has a population of 18 million and is one of the most populous cities in the world.
• Mumbai began as a collection of 7 islands which were connected by land reclaimed from the sea.
• In 1535 the Portuguese captured the islands and established a trading centre there.
• The Portuguese named the area Bom Bahia, Portuguese for “Good Bay” which the English pronounced Bombay.
• In 1662 the islands came under English control when they were given to the English King Charles II as part of a dowry he received on marrying a Portuguese princess.
• King Charles II leased the island to the East India Trading Company in the seventeenth century and they built sea defences and developed the port. At this time it had a population of around 60,000. 
• Bombay became known as a place of religious freedom and people began to move into Bombay to escape persecution in other parts of India.
• The building of the Suez Canal in the late 1800’s facilitated trade with Britain and the rest of Europe and contributed greatly to the prosperity of Bombay.
• Cotton and weaving factories were established in Bombay and workers flocked in from all over India. Conditions were often poor and unsanitary.