1-153-210 - Ann Ronan Picture Library/Heritage-Images

Bombay, the East India Company's port on the Malabar Coast of India, 1755. Company trading vessels are in the foreground and quayside warehouses and buildings behind. Bombay was ceded by the Portuguese to Charles II of England in 1661 as the dowry of Catherine de Braganza. In 1668 Charles leased it to the East India Company for an annual payment of £10, and the Company moved its headquarters there in 1687.