The Univ. of Mumbai (founded 1857), the Bhaba Atomic Research Centre, and the Indian Institute of Technology are among the educational, medical, scientific, and technical institutions in the city. The National Centre of Performing Arts and Jahangir Art Gallery are some of the many cultural attractions. The Victorian-style India Gate near the waterfront commemorates a 1911 visit by King George V. On Salsette Island are Buddhist caves, and the nearby small island of Elephanta is noted for its hewn-stone temples. Mumbai has many large suburbs, including Andheri, Thane, and Ulhasnagar, each with a population of more than 100,000, and the city itself has the largest community of Parsis in India. Sanjay Gandhi National Park is nearby.

The area of the city was ceded (1534) to Portugal by the sultan of Gujarat. Mumbai, after it passed to Great Britain in 1661, was (as Bombay) the headquarters (1668–1858) of the East India Company in W India. During the American Civil War it expanded to meet the world demand for cotton and became a leading cotton-spinning and weaving center. Mumbai was the capital of the Bombay presidency and later Bombay prov., which became the state of Bombay. In 1960 the state was divided into Gujarat and Maharashtra states, and Mumbai became the capital of the latter.

The city was convulsed by anti-Muslim riots in 1993. Mumbai's prominence as India's financial capital has also made it a target for criminal gang and terrorist violence; the former was the cause of some 250 deaths from bombings in 1993, and the latter was suspected in the July, 2006, bomb attacks that killed some 200 people. The city was officially renamed Mumbai (its name in the indigenous language, Marathi) in 1995.