Mumbai, the capital of Maharashtra, is the fastest moving, most affluent and industrialised city in India. Mumbai is a cosmopolitan city and has mixed culture. People of all caste, culture and religion can be found. The dressing, eating habits are a cross section of the traditional beliefs and the new western influence. The urban and educated people are greatly influenced by western culture.
Mumbai has much to see. Once a tiny island covered by palm trees was used to belong to the native koli fisher-folk, who still live here in their little villages surrounded by huge skyscrapers. In the seventeenth century the Portuguese came and dotted the island with several forts, which stand even today. In 1661, Mumbai was finally ceded to Charles II of England and eventually became one the largest ports in the British Empire.
