After Ashoka's death until 1343 these islands passed into the hands of various Hindu rulers. The Mohammedans of Gujerat took possession and the Kings of that province of India ruled for the next two centuries. The mosque at Mahim is the only mark of their dominion over these islands that remains until today.

Two cebturies later, in 1534 the Portuguese, took Bombay by force of arms from the Mohammedans. They had already possessed many important trading centers on the western coast, such as Panjim, Daman, and Diu. Because of that numerous churches were established in areas where the majority of people were Roman Catholics. And although one church with Portuguese-style facade still remains (St. Andrew's church at Bandra), there used to be two areas in Bombay called "Portuguese Church". They named their new possession as "Bom Baia" which in Portuguese means "Good Bay".

In 1662, the islands were given to the English King Charles II in dowry on his marriage to Portuguese Princess Catherine of Braganza. In the year 1668 the islands were passed to the English East India Company on lease from the crown. The Company, which was operating from Surat, was looking for another deeper water port so that larger vessels could dock, and found the islands of Bombay suitable for development. In 1687 the East India Company's headquarters were moved to Bombay. This led to the eclipse of Surat as a major trading center. The British corrupted the Portuguese name "Bom Baia" to "Bombay". The Kolis used to call the islands "Mumba" after Mumbadevi, the Hindu deity.

In 1640 the first Parsi (Dorabji Nanabhoy Patel) arrived in Bombay. The Parsis, originally from Iran, migrated to India about 900 years ago. They did it in order to save their religion, Zoroastrianism, from invading Arabs who proselytized Islam. In 1689-90, a severe plague had struck down most of the Europeans, and the Siddi Chief of Janjira made several attempts to re-possess the islands by force, but the son of the former, a trader named Rustomji Dorabji Patel (1667-1763), successfully warded off the attacks on behalf of the British with the help of the 'Kolis', the original fisher-folk inhabitants of these islands. The remnants of the Koli settlements can still be seen at Backbay reclamation, Mahim, Bandra, Khar, Bassien and Madh island.

Sir George Oxenden, the first British Governor of the islands, was succeeded by Mr. Gerald Aungier who made Bombay more populous by attracting Gujerati traders, Parsi ship-builders, and Muslim and Hindu manufacturers from the mainland. He increased the defensive power of the area by constructing the Bombay Castle and provided stability by constituting courts of law.

In 1672 Seth Modi Hirji Vachha built the Zoroastrian Towers of Silence on Malabar hill. The Zoroastrians believe in venerating the earth, fire, and water and hence they prefer to expose their dead to the elements and flesh-eating birds within the confines of the Towers of Silence. He also built the first fire-temple opposite his residence at Modikhana within the British fort, in the same year. Both of the these structures can still be seen today although they have been expanded and strengthened.

Sir Robert Grant (1779-1838) governed Bombay from 1835 to 1838 and was responsible for the construction of a number of roads between Bombay and the hinterland. The Thana and Colaba Causeways were built during his tenure as well as the Grant Medical College attached to the Sir Jamshedji Jeejeebhoy (J.J.) Group of hospitals.

In 1853 a 21-mile long railway line, the first in India, between Bombay's Victoria Terminus and Thana was opened. Within the next years the Great Indian Peninsular (GIP) and the Bombay Baroda and Central India (BB&CI) Railway were started and a regular service of steamers on the west coast was commenced in 1869. Also during this period Bombay enjoyed great economic wealth. Raw cotton was shipped to England through Bombay port, and after being spun and woven into cloth, returned to be sold in the Indian market. The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 brought the West closer to Bombay, and as the city became more prosperous, many schemes were launched for reclaiming additional land and building more roads and wharves. Bombay began to attract fortune hunters by the hundreds and the population had swelled from 13,726 in 1780 to 644,405 in 1872, in a little less than a hundred years. By 1906 the population of Bombay was to become 977,822.

In 1858, after the First War of Independence (the British called it the "Sepoy Mutiny") of 1857 in which the Rani of Jhansi and her infant son strapped on her back were killed, the East India Company was accused of mismanagement and the islands reverted to the British Crown. In 1862 Sir Baartle Frere was appointed Governor until 1867. By 1862 the town had spread over the lands reclaimed through constructions of causeways and it is from this date we have the rise of the modern city of Bombay.

Around 1860 the piped water supply from Tulsi and Vehar lakes (and later Tansa) was inaugurated. One reform which met with much superstitious opposition, before it was implemented, was the sealing and banning the use of water from open wells and tanks that bred mosquitoes. A good drainage system was also constructed at the same time. However, well water is now used all over the city to supplement the water received from the lakes.

The second half of the 19th century saw an increased construction of buildings in Bombay, such as, the Victoria Terminus, the General Post Office, Municipal Corporation, the Prince of Wales Museum, Rajabai Tower and Bombay University, Elphinstone College and the Cawasji Jehangir Hall, the Crawford Market, the Old Secretariat (Old Customs House) and the Public Works Department (PWD) Building, still stand today as major landmarks. The Gateway of India was built to commemorate the visit of king George V and Queen Mary for the Darbar at Delhi in 1911.

In 1870 the Bombay Port Trust was formed. In 1872, Jamshedji Wadia, a master ship-builder constructed the "Cornwalis", a frigate of 50 guns, for the East India Company, a success which led to several orders from the British Navy. In all the Wadias, between 1735-1863 built 170 war vessels for the Company, 34 man-of-war for the British Navy, 87 merchant vessels for private firms, and three vessels for the Queen of Muscat at Bombay docks.

The Princess Dock was built in the year 1885 and the Victoria Dock and the Mereweather Dry Docks in 1891. Alexandra Dock was completed in 1914. The closing years of the 19th Century were tragic for Bombay as the bubonic plague caused great destruction of human life once more. This led to the creation of the City Improvement Trust which in later years encouraged the development of the suburbs for residential purposes to remove the congestion in the city.

In 1885 Charles Forjett as Bombay's superintendent of police, was a favourite of the Indian people. He sacked British constables who unfairly harassed the locals and cracked down on the Parsi mafia which was involved in the liquor business in the Falkland Road area, which included the famous "Play House" which the locals corrupted to "pillhouse". The "Pillhouse" area would acquire notoriety in later years as the infamous "cages" area housing Bombay's infamous red-light district.

A very hot summer's day on Friday April 14, 1944, in one of the holds of the ship "Fort Stikine" (7420 tons) a mysterious fire started. As a result the ship blew up in the Bombay docks. At the time the ship was about to unload dried fish, cotton bales, timber, gun powder, ammunition, and gold bars from London (the latter to stabilize the Indian Rupee, which was sagging due to the Second World War and fear of invasion from Japan). The gold was valued at approx. two million Pounds Sterling at that time. Nobody is certain as to how the fire started but the two explosions which followed were so loud that windows rattled and/or shattered as far away as 8 miles. The destruction in the docks and surrounding area was immense and several hundred dock workers were killed instantly. A majority of brave men of the Bombay Fire Brigade, who answered the call to duty immediately after the first blast, lost their lives in the second explosion (a monument has been erected in the docks in their honor). At the time of the explosion, one of the gold bars crashed through the roof of the third floor apartment of a Parsi named D.C. Motivala more than a mile from the docks. He promptly returned the gold bar to the authorities. Almost all of the other gold bars were subsequently recovered from different parts of the city; the last ones to be found were hauled up from the bottom of the sea in the docks. However, during normal dredging operations carried out periodically to maintain the depth of the docking bays one or two gold bars were found intact sporadically as late as the 1970s and returned to the British government. The government took full responsibility for the disaster and monetary compensation was paid to citizens who made a claim for loss or damage to property.

On the 7th of August 1942, the historic session of the All India Congress Committee began. Its venue was the Gowalia Tank Maidan, where the congress was born in 1885. It was at this session that Mahatma Gandhi and other Indian National Congress leaders gave the "Quit India" call. The Indian leaders were arrested by the British soon afterwards but the momentum of the Quit India movement could not be stopped and led to the final withdrawal of the British on 15 August 1947. The last British troops on Indian soil left for England through the archway of the Gateway of India on that day. The people of Bombay, in a gesture of generosity wished them bon voyage, forgetting the bitter memories of the fight for independence. Today the maidan from where the call to "Quit India" was given is called the "August Kranti Maidan".

The Bombay State included the city as its seat of government. In 1960 the state of Bombay was split into Maharashtra and Gujarat states on linguistic basis, the former retaining Bombay city as its capital.

With the success of the back-bay reclamation scheme in the late 1960s and early 1970s Nariman Point became the hub of the business activity. Several offices shifted from the Ballard Estate to Nariman Point which ultimately became one of the most expensive real estate in the world as high demand pushed prices to astronomical limits.

The Stock Exchange at Bombay was established in 1875 as "The Native Share and Stockbrokers Association" which has evolved over the decades in to its present status as the premier Stock Exchange in India. It is one of the oldest in Asia having preceded even the Tokyo Stock Exchange which was founded in 1878. In the early days the business was conducted under the shade of a banyan tree in front of the town hall. The tree can still be seen in the Horniman Circle Park.

In January 1899, the Brokers' Hall was inaugurated by James M. MaClean, M.P. After the First World War the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) was housed in an old building near the Town Hall. In 1928, the present plot of land was acquired surrounded by Dalal Street, Bombay Samachar Marg, and Hammam Street. A building was constructed in 1930 and occupied in December of that year.

In 1995 the operations and dealings of the BSE were fully computerized and thus the famous out-cry system of share trading was replaced by screen based trading as in other modern stock exchanges around the world. Today Bombay is the financial and business capital of India.