THE COSMOPOLITAN NATURE OF EIGHTEENTH- AND NINETEENTH-CENTURY BOMBAY

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Abstract

Bombay, now known as Mumbai, is one of the most populous cities in twenty-first-century India. The term cosmopolitan refers to a place composed of people from many different countries, cultures, and communities. Bombay is not only the financial capital of India but also presents a unique cultural canvas shaped by heterogeneous ideas and interactions among diverse communities. This diversity gives the city its distinctive cosmopolitan character. Bombay replaced Surat as an important trading port during the nineteenth century. Owing to the abundant economic opportunities available in this colonial port city, artisans, merchants, craftspeople, and traders from different communities migrated to Bombay and settled there. In his farewell speech, Lord Curzon observed, There seems to be here an excellent feeling between the very different races and creeds.Â¹ By 1900, Bombay's capitalist class comprised modern industrial, commercial, and financial groups, along with professionals such as doctors, lawyers, and senior government officials. In the mid-nineteenth century, the city's small Parsi community produced a prominent group of industrialists. They were later joined by members of Muslim trading communities, including the Khojas, Memons, and Bohras, as well as members of Hindu commercial communities such as the Banias, Bhatias, Jains, and Marwaris.

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