Portuguese Armadas in the context of "Portuguese in Goa and Bombay"

The European-Asian sea route, commonly known as the sea route to India or the Cape Route, is a shipping route from the European coast of the Atlantic Ocean to Asia's coast of the Indian Ocean passing by the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Agulhas at the southern edge of Africa. The first recorded completion of the route was made in 1498 by Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama, the admiral of the first Portuguese Armadas bound eastwards to make the discovery. The route was important during the Age of Sail, but became partly obsolete as the Suez Canal opened in 1869.

Bombay, also called Bom Bahia or Bom Baim in Indo-Portuguese creole, and Mumbai in the local language; is the financial and commercial capital of India and one of the most populous cities in the world. It's also the cosmopolitan city centre of the Greater Bombay Metropolitan Area, and the cultural base of the Bollywood film industry. At the time of the arrival of the Portuguese Armadas, 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 Delhi Sultanate had been ruling the area, along with Chaul, New Bombay, (Thana), and Damaon; with the local administration at Bassein (Vasai) since the raids of Malik Kafur in the Konkan region and across the Indian subcontinent. This territory in North Konkan, along with the Bombay islands were later taken over by the Sultan of Guzerat from 1391 to 1534, when he had declared the end of the his suzerainty to Delhi, after the Timurid invasion of it. Growing apprehensive of the power of the Moghal emperor Humayun, Sultan Bahadur Shah of Gujarat was obliged to sign the Treaty of Bassein on 23 December 1534; according to which, the Seven Islands of Bombay, Fort San Sebastian of Bassein in the strategic town of Bassein (Vasai), and its dependencies were offered to the Portuguese East Indies. The places were only later officially surrendered on 25 October 1535, by the Sultan of Guzerat.

The Portuguese in Goa-Anjediva and Bombay-Bassein were actively involved in the foundation and growth of their Latin Christian religion in Bombay and the neighbouring area. They called the island by various names, which finally took the written form Bom Baim, when the islands were leased to several Portuguese officers during their regime. Portuguese Franciscans and Jesuits built several churches in and around Bombay (Mumbai); the prominent ones are the St. Michael's Church at Mahim, St. John the Baptist Church at Andheri, St. Andrew's Church, the Basilica of Mount Bandra (Bombay) at Bandra, the Gloria Church at Byculla, & the Holy Spirit Church Nandakhal at Virar. The Portuguese also built several fortifications around the city, like the Bombay Castle, Castella de Aguada (Castelo da Aguada or Bandra Fort) and Madh Fort.