High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Mumbai (formerly Bombay) is the financial capital of India and one of the most populous cities in the world. At the time of arrival of the Portuguese, Bombay was an archipelago of seven islands. Between the third century BCE and 1348, the islands came under the control of successive Hindu dynasties. The Muslim rulers of Gujarat annexed the islands in 1348, and they were later governed by the Gujarat Sultanate from 1391 to 1534. Growing apprehensive of the power of the Mughal emperor Humayun, Sultan Bahadur Shah of the Gujarat Sultanate was obliged to sign the Treaty of Bassein with the Portuguese Empire on 23 December 1534. According to the treaty, the seven islands of Bombay, the nearby strategic town of Bassein and its dependencies were offered to the Portuguese. The territories were later surrendered on 25 October 1535.