Bombay given as dowry to Charles II.

The British often touted dowry as one of vices of Indians. But ….

By 1534, the Mughal empire was fast expanding and this troubled Sultan Bahadur Shah, King of Gujarat. So he signed the Treaty of Bassein with the Portuguese. As per the treaty, the seven islands comprising Bombay were handed over to the Portuguese who established a trading centre there.

Bombay Port was excellent for its harbour and its natural isolation from land-attacks. The British East India Company naturally coveted this territory and made every attempt to obtain Bombay from King John IV of Portugal.

As luck would have it, on 11 May 1661, the marriage treaty of Charles II of England and Catherine of Braganza, daughter of King John IV of Portugal, placed Bombay in the possession of the British Empire, as part of Catherine's dowry to Charles. The Islands of Bombay were regarded as a political and financial liability and were leased by Charles, to the British East India Company, on 27 March 1668, for a nominal £10 annual rent.