Bun maska and berry pulao: The history of Mumbai’s Irani cafes | Research News,The Indian Express
Mumbai's Irani cafés are an iconic part of the city's social fabric, but over time, they have rapidly decreased in number. An homage to days of old, these cafés represent all that is cosmopolitan about Mumbai, carrying forward a centuries long tradition of inclusivity, simplicity and indulgence.
Littered across the city, but most common in the commercial Fort district, Irani cafés are steeped in nostalgia but are now fast disappearing. While there were once over 300 cafes in Bombay, today, fewer than 25 remain.
Until the 1947 Partition, India and Iran shared a common border and the two countries had deep cultural, political, and economic ties. Nile Green, a professor at UCLA, in his book Bombay Islam writes that “in 1830, Bombay’s total trade with Iran amounted to 350,000 rupees, but by 1859 the annual trade in horses alone had risen to 2,625,000 rupees, and this trend continued as the century progressed. By 1865 the number of Iranians officially registered as residing in Bombay reached 1,639 persons, though we can be fairly sure that a good many more unofficial residents escaped the eyes of the city’s officials.”
Irani refers to people from the country of Iran (formerly known as Persia) and includes people from both Parsi and Muslim faiths.
In the 7th century, the Zoroastrian Sassanid dynasty in Persia was overthrown by Arab Muslims under the Rashidun Caliphate. Fleeing religious persecution, the Zorastrian Iranis sought refuge in India in several waves. The Parsi community arrived in the subcontinent almost 1,000 years ago, settling north of Bombay, primarily in Gujarat. As Bombay’s fortunes grew, the Parsis slowly began to abandon their roots in Surat and Ahmedabad, opting instead to immerse themselves in the chaotic and lucrative ecosystem of the country’s financial capital.
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