In 1662 King Charles II of England married Catherine of Braganza and received a massive dowry. As part of the dowry, the Portuguese also gave King Charles their territory of Bombay (now Mumbai).

At that time, however, King Charles did not want the added burden of managing the island city. He rented the city to East India Company, which was at that time running a business in India from its headquarters in Surat, Gujarat. The entire city was rented to the Company for£10 in gold per year.

Eventually, the East India Company developed the city.