With the latest terror attacks in Mumbai, i believe its intelligentsia are clamouring that Mumbai should revert to its original name Bombay for since its renaming , Mumbai has been dogged by many a misfortune. However. Bombay is not its original name. We have to start with the Portuguese sea voyages in the 16th century when the whole west coast of India was at the mercy of the Portuguese sailing ships. During those days there were no ports or harbours with piers, quays, wharfs or docks to bring ships alongside. The ships used to drop anchor wherever there was deep water and as close as possible to the land. One such spot alongside the west coast was the expanse of water between todays Colaba/Mazagon and new Mumbai i.e.Uran , Panvel etc.It was a calm spot, a haven from the fury of monsoon winds. So the Portuguese named it Boa Baia i.e. a good/excellent bay to rest their ships during the monsoon season. However it had no hinterland to speak of. The present day Mumbai was originally a cluster of seven islands like Colaba, Mazagon, Girgaum, Malabar Hill, Worli etc. and in between these islands were swamps which at high tide were flooded with seawater. The Portuguese in their heydays started calling it Bombaim in keeping with their penchant for ending any word with nasal sound e.g. Candole became Candolim, Banavle became Benaulim. In 1662 when a Portuguese Royal Princess Catarina de Braganza was married to English King Charles ll , Bombaim of seven islands was given as dowry to English royal household. The British filled the swamps and made it into one of the great cities of Asia' However the British anglicised its name Bombaim ( Boa Baia ) to Bombay retaining the Portuguese BOM i.e. good or excellent and BAY for baia. It is this BOM that presend day Mumbai intelligentsia are hankering for in order to avoid further misfortunes.
Antonio
