Once Upon A Time in Bombay
February 21, 2012 7:11 AM Subscribe
Once Upon a Time in Bombay "It is said that Bombay is the Alexandria of India. Its geographical position and commercial relations bear evidently some resemblance to the great eastern entrepot of the Mediterranean. As the swampy Rhakotis, a mere fishing village which Alexander the Great transformed into the splendid city of Alexandria, the desolate islet of the Bombay Koli fishermen was changed into the present capital of Western India." -- J. Gershon da Cunha in Origin of Bombay (google book)
Other Once Upon a Times from Foreign Policy.
Other Once Upon a Times from Foreign Policy.
The origin of the name "Bombay" is still under investigation. Two major theories are extant:
1) Bombay comes from the Portuguese "Bom Bahia" meaning, "Good Bay"
2) Bombay comes from the patron Goddess "Mumbai", mispronounced by Europeans
It is probably both in combination.
posted by Renoroc at 7:33 AM on February 21, 2012
1) Bombay comes from the Portuguese "Bom Bahia" meaning, "Good Bay"
2) Bombay comes from the patron Goddess "Mumbai", mispronounced by Europeans
It is probably both in combination.
posted by Renoroc at 7:33 AM on February 21, 2012
I doubt either of those are true mostly because they seem reasonably plausible and that just isn't how things ever turn out.
posted by srboisvert at 8:00 AM on February 21, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by srboisvert at 8:00 AM on February 21, 2012 [2 favorites]
Thanks for the post; I love old photos of cities and old books about cities. (I also love the fact that the author tossed in a few lines of poetry in French about the Seine, a river relevant to Bombay only in that Bombay is not on it.)
posted by languagehat at 8:39 AM on February 21, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by languagehat at 8:39 AM on February 21, 2012 [1 favorite]
Shantaram is also pretty much a Bombay/Mumbai love story and a good very long read.
posted by srboisvert at 9:08 AM on February 21, 2012
posted by srboisvert at 9:08 AM on February 21, 2012
Someone once described Mumbai as: “London on Acid”… that was certainly my experience of it!
posted by nfg at 11:16 AM on February 21, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by nfg at 11:16 AM on February 21, 2012 [1 favorite]
It is always great to see these old pictures, but I found the Afghanistan series far more fascinating than the Mumbai one (in the Other Once Upon a Time link).
posted by mumimor at 12:36 PM on February 21, 2012
posted by mumimor at 12:36 PM on February 21, 2012
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posted by three blind mice at 7:24 AM on February 21, 2012