It is suggested that Chembur is the same place referred to as Saimur by the Arab writers(915–1137), Sibor in Cosmas Indicopleustes(535), Chemula in the Kanheri cave inscriptions(300–500), Symulla by the author of the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea(247), Symulla or Timulla by Ptolemy(150), and perhaps even Perimula by Pliny(A.D. 77).