BOMBAY, bom-b5!. A province of British India, extending along the western coast of the Peninsula from about latitude 14° to about 18° 30' N. (Slap: India, B 51. It is bounded by Baluchistan on the north, Rajputana, Central India, the Central Provinces. Berar, and Hydera bad on the east, :Mysore and Alad•as on the south, and the Arabian Sea and Baluchistan on the west. Area, 154235 square miles, of which 122,778 square miles is under direct British ad ministration. The rest is under the administra tion of native chiefs, politically controlled by Great Britain. The western part of the prov ince is partly traversed by the range of the WO4•rIl Ghats, running either close to the coast or retreating about 50 miles inland. They have numerous offshoots into the interior, and their slopes are covered with thick forests. Physical ly, the province is divided into four parts: Sindh, the northern division,Ivith a low surface, mostly 1111priductive; Gujarat, having a rich, alluvial soil, well watered; konkan, a moun tainous region, very little cultivated. and the in the south, suffering from insufficient rainfall. The chief rivers are the Indus. which drains only the Sindh, the Tapti, and the Ner budda. The climate, with a few exceptions, is hot and oppressive. A temperature of 130° is not rare, while in some places for about six months in the year the temperature averages about 95° in the shade. In the lower portions the rainy season is sometimes followed by epi demics of fever.
The agricultural products of Bombay are of considerable importance. In the northern por tion, where the surface is generally low and even swampy, much attention is paid to the cul tivation of rice and wheat, while in the south ern portion cotton is the chief crop. The latter is cultivated mostly in the black-soil regions of the southeastern part of the province, and the area under cotton amounts to about 25 per cent. of the total cotton area of British India, Besides cotton, wheat, and rice, Bombay pro duces large quantities of millet, some oil-seed, and tobacco. Altogether. there are in Bombay over 27,000.000 acres under cultivation, out of a total of 196,000,000 acres for British India. The mineral production of the province is in significant. The manufacturing industries are chiefly confined to the production of cotton and silk fabrics, leather, and brassware. The cotton manufacturing industry was started in 1854, and since then has had a rapid development. over 130,000 people in 1899. Besides exporting immense quantities of raw cotton to Great Britain, Bombay supplies a large portion of the domestic demand, and exports sonic to other parts of India. In regard to the volume
of commerce, Bombay is exceeded only by Ben gal. In 188'5 the imports and exports amounted to Rs.340,093,729 ($110,160,0001 and Rs.379. 602,960 ($123,000,000 ) respectively. In 1900 they had increased to Rs. 453,042,205 ($146,772,000) and 1is.439.863,383 ($142,550,000), respectively. The chief exports are sugar, tea, wool, cotton, cotton fabrics and woolens. and drugs; the im ports consist mostly of machinery. metals, and liquors.
In 1900 Bombay, including the native States, had over 6400 miles of railway lines, or 27 per cent. of the total railway mileage of British India. The lines belong either to the Imperial Government or to the native States, but they are mostly operated by private companies.
The administration of the province is vested in a Governor and an Executive Council, whose members hold offiee by appointment; while the legislative power is in charge of a Legislative Council, made up of the Governor and the Execu tive Council, with the addition of a few appoint ed members representing the European residents and the natives. The native States arc' con trolled by means of agents attached to the na tive courts. For administrative purposes the province is divided into the four divisions of Northern, Central, Southern, and Justice is administered by the high court at Bondi:1y and munerons district courts. The revenue is made up from land rowenue, monopolies, taxes, and customs. The revenue and expenditures for the fiscal year 1900 amounted to Rs. 135, 703,045 (about $14,000,000) and Es. 108,715,882 ($35,224,000) respectively.
Instruction is furnished by 13 colleges, about 500 secondary public schools, over 9000 primary public schools, and 2650 private primary schools. The University of Bombay is only an examining body. kltogether. there are about 12,640 edu cational institutions, with a total attendance of over 600,000 children, of whom about 60 per cent. are :Mohammedans. The populMion of the British portion of the province, including Aden (attached to the Province of Bombay), was 18,873,342 in 1891, :Ind 18,584,496 in 1901, while the population of the native States de creased during the same period from 8,059,298 to 6,591.691. Including the native States, the population of the province is composed of the following elements: Bindus, 78 per cent.; hammedans, 16 per cent.; Joins, about 2 per cent.: the remainder comprising over 300.000 Animists, about 77.000 Parsecs, over 170,000 Christians, and 13,000 Jews.
Consult: Drew, Bombay and Its Feudatories (Bombay, 1892) Douglas, Olimpscs of Old Bom bay and Westee» India (London, 1900).