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Unlike other cities in India, which grew around sacred sites or trading routes,
Mumbai is a city built by the British to serve British mercantile interests. The
city of Bombay was officially renamed Mumbai in January 1996. The
mumbaites believe that this name came from the goddess 'Mumba', worshipped by
the original Koli inhabitants. When the Portuguese arrived they called the
harbour Bombaim, which may have stemmed from 'buan bahia', meaning 'good bay' in
Portuguese, or was a corruption of the original Koli name. When the
islands were donated to the British, they anglicised Bombaim into Bombay.
As the country's busiest port and largest financial centre, it effectively
remains the commercial gateway between India and the rest of the world.
Parsis and Gujaratis dominate the city's economy. Mumbai is home to the
country's largest stock exchange. The Reserve Bank of India is also located
here. Read
more..
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