y,
that we find the most compact gathering of the members of the Parsi
community. Since their exodus from Persia the refugees here have
maintained themselves successfully, and have gradually acquired wealth
and the intellectual superiority which distinguishes them from the
other natives of India.

The Bombay Presidency, or, to be more exact, the province of Bombay,
[64] comprises twenty-four British districts, and nineteen Native
States (Agencies) under the protection of the English Government. Its
boundaries are: To the north, the State of Balouchistan, the Panjaub,
and the native States of Rajputana; to the east, the Mahratta State
of Indore, the Central Provinces, Western Berar and the States of
the Nizam of Hyderabad; to the south, the Madras Presidency and the
State of Mysore; and to the west, the Arabian Sea. It is divided into
four great divisions, made according to the local dialects. On the
north lies Sindh or the lower valley and delta of the Indus, a region
essentially Mahomedan both historically and as regards the population;
then more to the south, Gujerat, containing, on the contrary, the most
diverse and mixed elements, and comprising all the districts of the
northern coast, the Mahratta country, and the interior districts of
the Deccan; and, finally, the provinces where the Canarese language
is spoken, divided in their turn into four British districts and
eight Native States. [65]

This territory has been formed little by little round the Island
of Bombay, ceded to England by the King of Portugal as the dowry of
the Infanta Catherine of Braganza. The Portuguese were the first to
occupy these parts; in 1498 they arrived at Calicut with Vasco de
Gama, and five years later, thanks to the bravery of Albuquerque,
they took possession of Goa. Bombay came into their possession in
1532, and for a hundred years they managed to maintain themselves at
the head of commerce and traffic. Two rival factories, one English
and the other Dutch, were established in Surat in 1613 and 1618. It
must be stated that the acquisition of the island of Bombay gave but
little pleasure to the English, for in 1668, on account of great
difficulties, the King transferred it to the East India Company,
and in 1686 the control of all the possessions of the Company was
transferred from Surat to Bombay, which was made into an independent
Presidency (1708) at the time of the amalgamation of the two English
Companies. Finally, in 1773, Bomb