Marano Jews, Pot and the Founding of Bombay

I don't know if this is accurate, but the theatre of the idea is great:

Rohit told the story of the founding of Bombay, in which a Portuguese Jewish botanist was working in Goa, south of Bombay, when the Catholic church there decided it was time to bring the Inquisition to Goa. The botanist, who had hid his religion from the authorities, feared he would be found out, so he requested permission to relocate his research to the island of Bombay, so he could study hemp. With that, Mumbai's history as a settled community began.

"So you're telling me that Bombay was founded by a Jewish botanist pretending to be Catholic who leased a piece of land to get away from the Church and focus on studying pot?" I asked.

from: Andy Carvin's hilarious blog posting in which he meets an Indian Sammy Davis Junior.