Mahim

See also the document on the Northern Suburbs.

The island of Mahim contained the capital of the 13th century king, Bhimdev. Later, when the islands were in the possession of the Sultans of Gujarat, the old Mahim mosque was built. A dargah of Makhtum Fahih Ali Paru was built here in 1431, roughly at the same time.

The Portuguese then took possession of the island of Mahim. In the 1670's a convent of Our Lady of Salvation was built, and a Franciscan church constructed in what is now Dadar. In the 17th century, the Englishman John Fryer records a customs house and a guard house on this island.

In 1913 The Bombay Municipal Corporation opened up Mahim for development as a suburb. This was done by the simple expedient of building three major north-south access roads--- now called the Western Express highway, N. M. Joshi Marg, and Tulsi Pipe Road. In the beginning there were planned open spaces between buildings, and commercial and residential plots were mixed. Now, almost a century later, the area is extremely crowded but shops and residences still exist cheek to jowl.

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