1516.—"... another island, in which there is a city of the Moors called Bombaza, very large and beautiful."—Barbosa, 11. See also Colonial Papers under 1609, i. 188.
1883.—"... the Bombassi, or coal-black negro of the interior, being of much less price, and usually only used as a cook."—Wills, Modern Persia, 326.
BOMBAY, n.p. It has been alleged, often and positively (as in the quotations below from Fryer and Grose), that this name is an English corruption from the Portuguese Bombahia, 'good bay.' The grammar of the alleged etymon is bad, and the history is no better; for the name can be traced long before the Portuguese occupation, long before the arrival of the Portuguese in India. C. 1430, we find the islands of Mahim and Mumba-Devi, which united form the existing island of Bombay, held, along with Salsette, by a Hindu Rāī, who was tributary to the Mohammedan King of Guzerat. (See Rās Mālā, ii. 350); [ed. 1878, p. 270]. The same form reappears (1516) in Barbosa's Tana-Mayambu (p. 68), in the Estado da India under 1525, and (1563) in Garcia de Orta, who writes both Mombaim and Bombaim. The latter author, mentioning the excellence of the areca produced there, speaks of himself having had a grant of the island from the King of Portugal (see below). It is customarily called Bombaim on the earliest English Rupee coinage. (See under [RUPEE].) The shrine of the goddess Mumba-Devī from whom the name is supposed to have been taken, stood on the Esplanade till the middle of the 17th century, when it was removed to its present site in the middle of what is now the most frequented part of the native town.
1507.—"Sultan Mahommed Bigarrah of Guzerat having carried an army against Chaiwal, in the year of the Hijra 913, in order to destroy the Europeans, he effected his designs against the towns of Bassai (see [BASSEIN]) and Manbai, and returned to his own capital...."—Mirat-i-Ahmedi (Bird's transl.), 214-15.
1508.—"The Viceroy quitted Dabul, passing by Chaul, where he did not care to go in, to avoid delay, and anchored at Bombaim, whence the people fled when they saw the fleet, and our men carried off many cows, and caught some blacks whom they found hiding in the woods, and of these they took away those that were good, and killed the rest."—Correa, i. 926.
1516.—"... a fortress of the before-named King (of Guzerat), called Tana-mayambu, and near it is a Moorish town, very pleasant, with many gardens ... a town of very great Moorish mosques, and temples of worship of the Gentiles ... it is likewise a sea port, but of little trade."—Barbosa, 69. The name here appears to combine, in a common oriental fashion, the name of the adjoining town of Thana (see [TANA]) and Bombay.
1525.—"E a Ilha de Mombayn, que no forall velho estaua em catorze mill e quatro cento fedeas ... j̃ xiiij. iiii.c fedeas.
"E os anos otros estaua arrendada por mill trezentos setenta e cinque pardaos ... j̃ iii.c lxxv. pardaos.
"Foy aforada a mestre Dioguo pelo dito governador, por mill quatro centos trinta dous pardaos méo ... j̃ iiij.c xxxij. pardaos méo."—Tombo do Estada da India, 160-161.
1531.—"The Governor at the island of Bombaim awaited the junction of the whole expedition, of which he made a muster, taking a roll from each captain, of the Portuguese soldiers and sailors and of the captive slaves who could fight and help, and of the number of musketeers, and of other people, such as servants. And all taken together he found in the whole fleet some 3560 soldiers (homens d'armas), counting captains and gentlemen; and some 1450 Portuguese seamen, with the pilots and masters; and some 2000 soldiers who were Malabars and Goa Canarines; and 8000 slaves fit to fight; and among these he found more than 3000 musketeers (espingardeiros), and 4000 country seamen who could row (marinheiros de terra remeiros), besides the mariners of the junks who were more than 800; and with married and single women, and people taking goods and provisions to sell, and menial servants, the whole together was more than 30,000 souls...."—Correa, iii. 392.