This King Received Mumbai as Dowry After Marriage

Mumbai is a city in India also called “Maya Nagri.” From the web of the Mumbai City district, it is identified that the name Mumbai is derived from the patron deity the Mother Goddess Mumba Devi where the earliest inhabitants are the Kolis. Mumbai has a history of quite a number of rulers and empires which regimes over the city and its surrounding regions from time to time such as the Mauryas, the Portuguese and the British. But do you know that the city adopted by which king as a dowry? Well, the answer is…

Over 300 hundred years ago when European nations entered into a marriage agreement for their heirs, a city was considered valuable enough to be the dowry. That city was Bombay. It happened in the year 1661, the two countries that were in conflict of interest were Portugal and England.

This particular king was given Mumbai as dowry once he married…, his name was…
In the past, what is today’s Mumbai was given as a dowry that was big enough by the Portuguese. It was in 1661 that Bombay was transferred through dowry, as was the custom in those days. As stated in a news that was aired in Timesnow Hindi, Mumbai was transferred as dowry at the instance of marriage of King Charles II to Catherine of Braganza in 1661.

According to Money Control, in the year 2022 Bombay was a part of an island city that was captured by the Portuguese in the year 1534. They granted rent for its allies as low as possible in Central America and its main focus were the establishment of Christianity than profit making. There was no free trade and Bombay was not much into importance. One of the many setbacks in this period was the Portuguese rule as they forcing the local people to convert to Christianity was a provocation to the locals braking growth and development. Thus, they only possessed minor control over time passing, which appeared in the process with relatively little alteration.

Also, the British were increasing their empire and it was in their agenda to seize Bombay for a considerable period of time. After the case of violation of trading privileges a treaty with Portugal was discussed and further gained more strength when the Portuguese ambassador proposed the marriage of Charles II of England and Catherine the sister to the King of Portugal. This is evident through a mem that was prepared throughout marriage agreement where Bombay was proposed to be provided as dowry in the secret list that was included in the agreement. Nevertheless, because Bombay was not considered mature and highly valuable, it was necessary to provide additional incentives. A good amount of money was being provided, as was the strategic city of Tangiers in Morocco, which was to be conveyed prior to the marriage. The one that secret was the determinant: England was to help Portugal in against the Dutch and Spanish. Therefore, Portugal was guaranteed military support from England, while the latter received gain and new territories.

Later in 1661, the administrative control of the seven island that makes up Bombay was under the reign of King Charles of England. The union between the Queen Catherine of Braganza and the King Charles II, therefore, can be considered as political and commercial.