to the bulk of their dominions, including Gujarat, where they had set up a branch line. For some two centuries (c. 750–950) there was a balance of power between the Gurjaras and Rashtrakutas, neither kingdom being strong enough to encroach on the other to any extent. The Rashtrakutas were, moreover, debarred from large schemes of conquest by dissensions with the branch dynasty which they had set up in Gujarat and by the constant threat of attack by the Chalukyas from Mysore. Nevertheless their power and magnificence (they were notable builders and patrons of literature) greatly impressed the Arabs, by whom the king was known as Balhara (i.e. Vallhaba, “well-beloved”), a title borrowed from the preceding dynasty. Under them the Konkan and the coast farther south were governed by chiefs of the Silahara family, whose rule is mainly notable for the revival of trade with the Persian Gulf and, doubtless as a result of this, the arrival in 775 on the west coast of a number of Parsee refugees, who found, in a country where three religions were already equally honoured, the toleration denied to them in Mussulman Persia. But in the 10th century the Rashtrakuta power began to break up; in 961 Mularaja Solanki (Chalukya) conquered the kingdom of Anhilvada (Anhilvara) in Gujarat, where his dynasty reigned till 1242; and twelve years later the Chalukyas once more overthrew the Rashtrakutas in the Deccan, establishing their capital at Kalyani, while a branch line was set up in southern Gujarat. Farther south the Silaharas, however, continued to rule the coast, and succeeded in maintaining their independence until after the final fall of the Chalukyas in 1192. The cause of the downfall of the dynasty, splendid and enlightened as any of its predecessors, was the system of governing by means of great feudatories, which also proved fatal to the Solanki rajas of Anhilvada. From 1143 onward the power of the latter had been overshadowed by that of the Vaghela chiefs of Dholka, and during the same period the Deccan had been rapidly lapsing into absolute anarchy, amid which rival chiefs struggled for the supreme power. In the end the Yadavas of Devagiri (Daulatabad) prevailed, and in 1192 established a short-lived empire to which the Dholka princes were ultimately forced to become tributary.
But meanwhile a new power had appeared, which was destined to establish the Mussulman domination in western and southern India. In 1023 Mahmud of Ghazni had already invaded Gujarat with a large army, destroyed the national Hindu idol of Somnath, and carried away an immense booty. Mahommed Ghori also invaded Gujarat, and left a garrison in its capital. But it was not till after the Mussulman power was firmly established in northern India that the Mahommedan sovereigns of Delhi attempted the conquest of the south. In 1294 the emperor Ala-ud-din first invaded the Deccan, and in 1297 he conquered Gujarat. In 1312 the Mahommedan arms were triumphant through the Mahratta country; and seven years later the whole of Malabar fell a prey to the invaders. In the middle of the 14th century the weakness of the Delhi sovereigns tempted the governors of provinces to revolt against their distant master, and to form independent kingdoms. In this way the Bahmani kingdom was established in the Deccan, and embraced a part of the Bombay presidency. Ahmednagar and Gujarat also became the seats of a new kingdom. In 1573 Akbar conquered Gujarat and reannexed it to the empire; in 1599 he effected the reconquest of Khandesh, and in 1600 that of Ahmednagar. From this time the country was never tranquil, and Ahmednagar became the focus of constant rebellions. During the latter part of the 17th century the Mahrattas rose into power, and almost every part of the country now comprising the presidency of Bombay fell under their sway. In 1498 the Portuguese came first to Calicut, their earliest possession in the presidency being the island of Anjidiv. After their victory at Diu over the Egyptian fleet their mastery of the Indian Ocean was undisputed, and they proceeded to establish themselves on the coast. They captured Goa in 1510, Malacca in 1511, and Ormuz in 1515. They next took advantage of the decay of the kingdom of Gujarat to occupy Chaul (1531), Bassein with its dependencies, including Bombay (1534), Diu (1535) and Daman (1559). But the inherent vices of their intolerant system undermined their power, even before their Dutch and English rivals appeared on the scene.
The first English settlement in the Bombay presidency was in 1618, when the East India Company established a factory at Surat, protected by a charter obtained from the emperor Jahangir. In 1626 the Dutch and English made an unsuccessful attempt to gain possession of the island of Bombay, and in 1653 proposals were suggested for its purchase from the Portuguese. In 1661 it was ceded to the English crown, as part of the dower of the infanta Catherine of Portugal on her marriage with Charles II. So lightly was the acquisition esteemed in England, and so unsuccessful was the administration of the crown officers, that in 1668 Bombay was transferred to the East India Company for an annual payment of £10. At the time of the transfer, powers for its defence and for the administration of justice were also conferred; a European regiment Vas enrolled; and the fortifications erected proved sufficient to deter the Dutch from their intended attack in 1673 (see Bombay City: History). In 1687 Bombay was placed at the head of all the Company’s possessions in India; but in 1753 the government of Bombay became subordinate to that of Calcutta. The first collision of the English with the Mahratta power was in 1774 and resulted in 1782 in the treaty of Salbai, by which Salsette was ceded to the British, while Broach was handed over to Sindhia. More important were the results of the second Mahratta war, which ended in 1803. Surat had already been annexed in 1800; the East India Company now received the districts of Broach, Kaira, &c.
In 1803 the Bombay presidency included only Salsette, the islands of the harbour (since 1774), Surat and Bankot (since 1756); but between this date and 1827 the framework of the presidency took its present shape. The Gujarat districts were taken over by the Bombay government in 1805 and enlarged in 1818; and the first measures for the settlement of Kathiawar and Mahi Kantha were taken between 1807 and 1820. Baji Rao, the last of the peshwas, who had attempted to shake off the British yoke, was defeated, captured and pensioned (1817–1818), and large portions of his dominions (Poona, Ahmednagar, Nasik, Sholapur, Belgaum, Kaladgi, Dharwar, &c.) were included in the presidency, the settlement of which was completed by Mountstuart Elphinstone, governor from 1819 to 1827. His policy was to rule as far as possible on native lines, avoiding all changes for which the population was not yet ripe; but the grosser abuses of the old régime were stopped, the country was pacified, the laws were codified, and courts and schools were established. The period that followed is notable mainly for the enlargement of the presidency through the lapse of certain native states, by the addition of Aden (1839) and Sind (1843), and the lease of the Panch Mahals from Sindhia (1853). The establishment of an orderly administration, one outcome of which was a general fall of prices that made the unwonted regularity of the collection of taxes doubly unwelcome, naturally excited a certain amount of misgiving and resentment; but on the whole the population was prosperous and contented, and under Lord Elphinstone (1853–1860) the presidency passed through the crisis of the Mutiny without any general rising. Outbreaks among the troops at Karachi, Ahmedabad and Kolhapur were quickly put down, two regiments being disbanded, and the rebellions in Gujarat, among the Bhils, and in the southern Mahratta country were local and isolated. Under Sir Bartle Frere (1862–1867) agricultural prosperity reached its highest point, as a result of the American Civil War and the consequent enormous demand for Indian cotton in Europe. The money thus poured into the country produced an epidemic of speculation known as the “Share Mania” (1864–1865), which ended in a commercial crisis and the failure of the bank of Bombay (1866). But the peasantry gained on the whole more than they lost, and the trade of Bombay was not permanently injured. Sir Bartle Frere encouraged the completion of the great trunk lines of railways, and with the funds obtained by the demolition of the town walls (1862) he began the magnificent series of public buildings that now adorn Bombay.
