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DECEMBER, 1926 )
THE POPULATION OF THE CITY OF BOMBAY
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THE POPULATION OF THE CITY OF BOMBAY. A few remarks concerning its origin and growth. By 8. M. EDWARDES, 0.8.I., .v..
(Continued from page 215.) The third or Muhammadan period may be held to run roughly from A.D. 1348, when a Gujarat Muhammadan force attacked and seized Mahim and killed the Hindu chief of Chaul, who had dispossessed Bimb's gon and successor, Pratapdev, a few years before. The period ends in A.D. 1534, when Sultan Bahadur of Gujarat transferred Bassein and its dependencies, including the seven islands of Bombay, to Nuno da Cunha, Viceroy of Goa, acting on behalf of the king of Portugal. In regard to the population there is little to chronicle during the Muhammadan period, except that the numbers of Naitias or Konkani Muhammadans must have appreciably increased by immigration from the coast towns of Gujarat. Documentary evidence exists that in A.D. 1530 they formed an important trading community in Bassein, and we have the statement of the Portuguese physician, Garcia da Orta, who became Lord of the Manor of Bombay island in 1538, that "the Moors who came from abroad and mixed themselves with the Gentiles (scil. Hindus) of this land " formed a definite section of the population at that date. Indirect proof of the growth of the Konkani Muhammadan element during the two centuries preceding Portuguese dominion in Bombay is afforded by the death at Mahim about A.D. 1430 of the Saint Makhtum Fakih Ali Paru, who is said to have served as Kazi of Mahim. His tomb, which is still the most notable feature of the neighbourhood and at which a large fair is annually held, was erected in A.D. 1431, and bas acquired a wide reputation for the cure of cases of spirit-possession.
The fourth or Portuguese period runs from A.D. 1534 to 1661, the date of the Marriage Treaty between Charles II and the Infanta of Portugal. Now for the first time one beging to hear of those parts of Bombay, other than Mahim, which have since developed into municipal wards, and of the island of Bombaim, the home of the Koli goddess Mumbai, as distinct from Mahim, Parel, Sion and Worli. Speaking roughly, what are now the northern wards of Bombay City were grouped together under the kasba or chief station of Mahim and were in possession of the Portuguese religious orders, while Mazagon and Bombay with Worli and Colaba were grouped together under the kasba ot Bombaim and were granted on a quit-rent, in lieu of military service, to a succession of Crown tenants or Lords of the Manor. It was from the widow of the last of these, Donna Ignez de Miranda, that the first English governor, Humphrey Cooke, received possession of the Island. The period of Portuguese dominion, far from being marked by any increase of population, was responsible for the flight from Mahim and other islands of many of those who had settled during the preceding Hindu and Musalman periods. The Portuguese religious orders adopted a policy of wholesale conversion to Christianity, and in pursuance thereof showed so much intolerance and perpetrated so much tyrauny that both Hindu and Muhammadan residents were forced to leave the Island and seek refuge in the mainland territories of Indian rulers. Christianity was imposed upon all classes indiscriminately,-on Brahmans, Prabhus, Panchkalshis, Bhandaris, Kolis and others; and in consequence, there existed at the time of the cession of Bombay to the English a considerable Native Christian population in the seven islands, particularly in Mazagon, Parel, and the island of Bombay itself. Besides these, there were a few Portuguese of pure blood, like Christovão de Souza de Tavora, the Lord of the Manor of Mazagon ; & number of Indo-Portuguese, styled To passes,' of mixed European and Asiatic parentage, who possessed the good qualities of neither race; Dheds or low caste people, who served as scavengers etc; Malia and Agris, who cultivated gardens and fields; and a certain number -of unconverted Brahinans, Prabhus, Bhandaris and Kolis,
