The name Mumbai is an eponym, derived from Mumba or Maha-Amba—the name of the Koli goddess Mumbadevi—and Aai, "mother" in the language of Marathi.[11]
The oldest known names for the city are Kakamuchee and Galajunkja; these are sometimes still used.[12][13] Ali Muhammad Khan, in the Mirat-i-Ahmedi (1507) referred to the city as Manbai.[14] In 1508, Portuguese writer Gaspar Correia used the name Bombaim, in his Lendas da Índia ("Legends of India").[15][16] This name possibly originated as the Old Portuguese phrase bom baim, meaning "good little bay",[17] and Bombaim is still commonly used in Portuguese.[18] In 1516, Portuguese explorer Duarte Barbosa used the name Tana-Maiambu: Tana appears to refer to the adjoining town of Thane and Maiambu to Mumbadevi.[19]
The temple of local Hindu goddess Mumbadevi, after whom the city of Mumbai derives its name
Other variations recorded in the 16th and the 17th centuries include: Mombayn (1525), Bombay (1538), Bombain (1552), Bombaym (1552), Monbaym (1554), Mombaim (1563), Mombaym (1644), Bambaye (1666), Bombaiim (1666), Bombeye (1676), and Boon Bay (1690).[18][20] After the British gained possession of the city in the 17th century, the Portuguese name was officially anglicised as Bombay.[21] |
