As war rages in the Gulf, Mumbai’s hidden Iran quarter watches anxiously

Built in 1858 by Iranian merchant Haji Muhammad Husayn Shirazi, the mosque remains one of the most visible reminders of the historic connections that once linked Bombay closely with the Persian world through trade and migration.

“It is heartbreaking for us to witness what has been happening back in Iran. So many of us have linkages to Iran including extended families still residing there. I have travelled there almost every year. It breaks my heart to see what that place has been going through,” a prominent member of the Iranian Shia community said.

When Iranian Shias arrived in Bombay

While Bombay had long maintained links with Iran through the presence of Zoroastrian and Bahai communities, a fresh wave of migrants arrived in the early nineteenth century, largely comprising Iranian Shia Muslims. Many of these migrants hailed from inland cultural centres such as Shiraz, Isfahan and Kashan and moved to Bombay in search of better economic opportunities as several parts of inland Iran were facing economic stagnation.

The migration coincided with Bombay’s emergence as a major trading hub of the British Empire. For Iranian merchants and traders, the rapidly expanding port city offered access to new commercial networks and markets across the Indian Ocean, making it an attractive destination for settlement and trade.

“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,” historian Nile Green notes in his book Bombay Islam.

Many of the early Iranian Shia traders settled in Umerkhadi and Dongri. The ornate mosque they built served as both a religious centre and a visual marker of their identity, with ceramic tiles specially imported from Iran.

The mosque was funded by Haji Muhammad Husayn Shirazi, who held the title Malik al tujjar, meaning leader of the Iranian merchants in Bombay. Built in the Shirazi architectural style, the mosque features two minarets and notably has no dome. Its courtyard and adjoining rooms historically served as resting spaces for travellers, pilgrims and visiting scholars arriving from Iran.

Trade, pilgrims and travellers

The growth of the Iranian community was closely tied to the maritime trade routes linking Bombay with Persian Gulf ports such as Bushire and Bandar Abbas.

Regular steamship services enabled merchants, pilgrims and scholars to travel frequently between the two regions. Iranian traders brought goods such as carpets, attar, dried fruits and luxury curios to Bombay, while exports from the city included rice, ghee, spices, teakwood and textiles.

Bombay also functioned as a transit point for Iranian pilgrims travelling to Mecca. Ships from the Persian Gulf often halted in the city before continuing towards Jeddah, bringing waves of travellers who stayed temporarily in the Iranian quarter around Dongri.

Iranian Shias and Iranian Parsis: two different migrations

Although Mumbai is widely associated with people of Iranian origin, the city’s Iranian Shia community is distinct from the more widely known Iranian Zoroastrians or Parsis.

The Parsis trace their migration to the Indian subcontinent to a much earlier period, when Zoroastrians fled Iran following the Arab conquest of the Sassanian Empire in the seventh century. Over time, they became one of Bombay’s most influential communities, playing a key role in trade, shipbuilding, industry and philanthropy.

The Iranian Shias, however, arrived much later, mainly during the nineteenth century, and were primarily drawn by commercial opportunities rather than religious persecution. Their presence remained concentrated around trading networks and religious institutions in areas such as Dongri and Umerkhadi.

Another group often associated with Iranian heritage in Mumbai are the owners of the well known Irani cafés. Many of them migrated later from towns such as Yazd and Kerman during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and became an iconic part of the city’s culinary culture.

A fading community

Today the Iranian Shia merchant community in Mumbai is relatively small, numbering only a few thousand people. Many descendants of the original families have migrated to Europe, North America and other parts of the world.

Despite this migration, several families continue to maintain cultural and familial ties with Iran.

“There would be around 2,000 people of Iranian Shia origin in Mumbai today. Many still have relatives there and some of the older members of the community still speak Farsi. Marriages have taken place between families in both countries,” said a prominent hotelier who requested anonymity given the current geopolitical situation.

“This community represents the long historical relationship that existed between Iran and Bombay. What is happening now is heartbreaking and our hearts go out to the people who are suffering,” he added.