मुंबई (Mumbai)

मुंबई (Mumbai),¹ the capital of महाराश्त्र (Mahārāshtra),² भारत (Bhārat),³ has 22.9 million metropolitan and 13.7 million city residents.⁴ It is located on the only deep water harbor on the Konkoni coast on seven islands, merged into one in the 19th century. It is the headquarters of Bollywood, India's biggest film producer, and is the gate to two world heritage sites: the Chhatrapati Shivaji rail terminus and the Elephanta Caves, with rock-cut religious sculpture (just outside the metropolitan area). The tallest building is the Shreepati Arcade.⁵ The metropolitan area includes Kalyān-Dombivali,⁶ Navi Mumbai⁷, ठाणे (Ṭhāne),⁸ each with more than a million residents. Some would also include भिवंडी (Bhiwanḍi) and Vasai-Virar in the metropolitan area; they also have over a million residents.

Kalyān-Dombivali has a population of 1.3 million,⁴ and is located northeast of Bombay Harbor, within the Mumbai metropolitan area. Buildings of interest include the Kaali Masjid, built by the Moghul emporer, Akbar, and Durgadi fort, which doubles as a religious shrine for the goddess, Durga.

Navi Mumbai has 1.1 million residents,⁴ and is located along the east shore of Ṭhāne Creek, connected to Mumbai by two bridges. Its monuments include an equestrian statue in the Vashi district, a circular colonnade in the Kharghar District and the Balaji Temple Rajagopuram in the Nerul District.

Ṭhāne has 1.7 million residents,⁴ and is located where Thana Creek narrows in the northern part of Mumbai metropolitan area. There are many lakes within the city including Talao Pali.⁹ Perhaps its most famous religious building is Kopineshwar temple, dating back about a thousand years.¹⁰

भिवंडी (Bhiwanḍi) is a textile city with a population of 1.1 million in 2011¹¹ located northeast of Thana.

Vasai-Virai is a city located north of Mumbai along an estuarine creek. As of 2011 it had a population of 1.2 million.¹²

The metropolitan area is served by Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, one of the nation's busiest.¹³

Year	Name	Population	Political entity
1300 CE	Thana14	48,00015	Thana Rāj (Thana Kingdom)
1800 CE	Bombay	140,00015	Kingdom of Great Britain (British Empire)
1900 CE	Bombay	780,00015	United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (British Empire)
2012 CE	मुंबई (Mumbai)	22,921,0004	भारत (Bhārat or India)

External references

Chhatrapati Shivaji rail terminus, Mumbai, Konkan Division, Mahārāshtra, Bhārat (or India)

Historical maps

Footnotes

1. Formerly called Bombay or Bambai.
2. Ideally the final consonant cluster and vowel is rendered by a single ligature for the three akṣaras.
3. India in English.
4. www.world-gazetteer.com, accessed February 6, 2013 (2012 calculation) and February 11, 2008.
5. www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=shrepatriarcade-mumbai-india, accessed February 11, 2008.
6. Or Kalyān-Dombivli. Before 1982 they were separate cities.
7. Formerly New Bombay.
8. Also spelled Thāna or Thānā or Thana.
9. Also called Musunda Talao, according to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thane, accessed February 11, 2008.
10. Silhara dynasty, 810 to 1260. Source: ibid.
11. Side banner of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhiwandi, accessed 1/2/2015.
12. Side banner of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasai-Virar, accessed 1/2/2015.
13. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_busiest_airports_in_India_by_passenger_traffic, accessed 9/29/2014.
14. I am not certain that this was the local name for the city back in this time.
15. Estimate in Tables of the World's Largest Cities, in Tertius Chandler, Four Thousand Years of Urban Growth, 2nd ed. (The Edwin Mellen Press, 1987). In 1300 CE Thana was the largest city in what is now महाराश्त्र (Mahārāshtra). Chandler (pg. 394) derived his estimate using a 1538 count of 60 mosques all of which were presumed to be converted from temples in use in 1300 (and an implicit ratio of these to population served). From 1800 Bombay was the largest city in the current state.