Why was Bombay Changed to Mumbai?
Why did Bombay change its name to Mumbai, when did it happen and what was Shiv Sena’s reason?
Mumbai is the most populated city in all of India. Trains carry around 6 million people everyday and it is the home of the Bollywood hub of the Indian film industry. It's called the city that never sleeps because the city is always buzzing with people and something or the other is always going on. However, there is a lot of confusion over the name Mumbai. Many call it Bombay. Do you know what is the meaning of these two names and why was it changed? Long back Mumbai was actually 7 islands and was part of King Ashoka’s empire.
Long back Mumbai had other names like Kakamuchee & Galajunkja. However, the meaning of these have never been found. Later when the British captured India, they decided to join the islands of Mumbai through various projects. They did this because the Company was keen to develop Bombay as it offered an excellent, deep sea, natural harbor which could be used in all seasons. It could also afford easy and direct communication with the English factories in Persia, Malabar Coast and the Spice Islands (Maluku Islands). Actually Mumbai was always the name of the city. The name Mumbai comes from the local people of Mumbai which were the ‘Kolis’.
Mumbai's name is actually 2 parts. ‘Mumba’ is after the Koli temple ‘Mumbadevi’ and ‘Aai’ is the marathi word for Mother. This is how the name was born. So how did the name ‘Bombay’ start? When Portuguese navy explorer Gaspar Correia came to Mumbai for business. After that he wrote about his experience in Mumbai. That time he called Mumbai - ‘Bombaim’.‘Bom’ means ‘Good’ and ‘Baim’ means Bay. The word basically means ‘Good Bay’. Bombaim became popular as Mumbai’s name internationally. However, since the British could not pronounce it properly they called it ‘Bombay’. For many years Mumbai was known as Bombay. Even after India’s independence in 1947, the word Bombay was being used. The political party Shiv Sena came to power in Maharashtra in 1995. The party’s leader Bal Thackeray said that Bombay was associated with the British Raj or Empire - and it was viewed as an unwanted legacy of the colonial period. They demanded that we used the old name Mumbai to strengthen the Marathi identity of the city. This is how the name of the city was changed. They even wanted to ditch the name “Bollywood” , the name of the film industry which is a combination of Bombay and Hollywood. However, that never happened. Now wasn’t that interesting! Do you want to know the history of other names of cities? Then let us know in the comments and we will surely create a video on it!
