Question

Describe any five causes of the expansion of Bombay in the nineteenth century.

Answer 1

(i) With the growth of trade in cotton and opium, large communities of traders and bankers as well as artisans and shopkeepers came to settle in Bombay.
(ii) The establishment of textile mills led to a fresh surge in migration.
(iii) Large numbers flowed in from the nearby district of Ratnagiri to work in the Bombay mills.
(iv) Bombay dominated the maritime trade of India till well into the twentieth century.
(v) It was also at the junction head of two major railways.
(vi) The railways encouraged an even higher scale of migration into the city.
(vii) Famine in the dry regions of Kutch drove large numbers of people into Bombay in 1888-89.