By - Steffi Lewis

Made up of seven isles: Kolbhat (Colaba), Palva Bunder (renamed by British as Apollo Bunder), Mazgaon (derived from Sanskrit word Matsya Gram – fishing village, Parel, Mahim, Worli, Chhota Kolbhat (little Colaba). The bigger island in the North of Mumbai islands was Sashti (renamed by Portuguese as Salsette), also constituted of seven other smaller islands. And the other island to the East was Turbhe (called as Trombay by Portuguese)

Deep-sea fishermen called the Kolis and salt makers called the Aagris were the chief inhabitants

The name Mumbai was derived from the form of Maha Amba (Great Mother) Mumbadevi, worshipped by the Kolis

The Mumbadevi temple was built originally by a Koli in 14th century atop Dongri hill. The temple miraculously escaped destruction during the Muslim & Portuguese rules. But British demolished it in 18th century. It was rebuilt at Pydhonie by a goldsmith, Pandurang Shivaji Sonar

Mumbadevi Mandir

Artifacts found near Kandivali shows evidence of human civilisation since 250 BC

300 BC: Maurya Empire (Kanheri caves, Mahakali Caves, Mandapeshwar caves). Kanheri is derived from the word Krishnagiri (means black mountain in Sanskrit). The present Sanjay Gandhi National Park also existing in this era & was earlier called Krishnagiri National Park

185 BC: Satvahanas of Telgu region ruled the islands along with Konkan coast

1st century : Satvahana, then Shaka era

AD 415, Traikutaka, Kalachuri dynasty (coins of the Kalachuri king Krishnaraja were found in the village Kavel present day Kalbadevi road) build the Jogeshwari caves dedicated to Lord Shiva

6th – 7th century: Chalukya dynasty (king Pulakeshin) established their capital on Gharapuri island

9th - 12th century : Shilahara era (Elephanta caves, Walkeshwar temple, Banganga Tank, Ambarnath temple). The Walkeshwar temple was destroyed by the Portuguese & rebuilt by Rama Kamath in 1715

Mahakali Caves (300 BC), Andheri

Jogeshwari Caves

Gharapuri Caves (called as Elephanta by Portuguese) (900 AD)

13th century: When Devgiri was besieged by the invader Allaudin-Khilji, Raja Bhimdev the son of Ramdev (the Yadav king of Devgiri), established his capital Mahikawati on isle of Mahim. Raja Bhimdev & his son Pratap Bimb transformed the island into a city of temples & settlements flourishing with plantations, fishing hamlets & vegetal cover, groves & woods, during the 13th century.

15th century: Mohemmedan invader Mubarak Shah destroyed many temples & cities after defeating Raja Nagardev in a battle at Byculla and thus conquered Mumbai. The Haji Ali tomb & the Mahim mosque were built around this time

16th century : Portuguese defeated the Muhameddans in a battle near the Bandra creek. They imposed their feudal system on the natives, demolished temples & built churches in their place. The temple of Walkeshwar & Mahalakshmi were cast down.

In 1661, during the marriage treaty of Infanta Catherine of Portugal with Charles II of Britain, Portugal handed over the islands of Mumbai to Britain as dowry, but retained Sashti islands

In the year 1668, the English East India Company took over the command of these money-minting islands under a lease agreement of 10 Pounds per annum

In 1737 Sashti was captured from the Portuguese by the native Marathas, but finally lost it to the British in 1774, and was formally ceded to the East India Company in the 1782 Treaty of Salbai

View of the ghat, Banganga tank & ancient temple of Walkeshwar

The entrance to the Gharapuri Caves (Elephanta) in ancient days

During the Shilahar era (800-1000AD) GharaPuri (present day Elephanta) was the capital and flourishing trade center was established in sashti island

During Raja Bhimdev’s reign the main inhabitants were various Maharashtrian castes viz. Palshis, Pachkalshis, Kunbis, Bhandaris, Vadvals, Bhois, Agris, Pathare Prabhus and Brahmins. The Bhandaris were originally toddy trappers; the Vadvals were gardeners

The Portuguese had the primary goal of proselytizing rather than development of Mumbai. They carried conversion in the area of Caval, Chaul, Bassein & Thane, thus introducing Christianity in this region.

The Hindus (primarily konkanis) who did not succumb to the oppressions for conversions, migrated to other parts of Mumbai & thus Konkanis became a part of the oldest inhabitants of Mumbai.

During the 17th century, Parsis were one of the earliest immigrants to move to Mumbai. The Parsi community has contributed significantly to the development of the nation. Famous Parsis are Dadabhai Naoroji, Jemshetji Tata, Ratan Tata. The printing press was introduced to Mumbai by Bhimji Parikh, a Parsi trader in 1670

In 1757, Kamathis, construction workers from Andhra Pradesh arrived here and set up base. The region was the low-lying area near present day Mahalaxmi. The region became known as Kamathipura.

Around the same time, many Gujrathis, Kathiawaris, Kutchis & marwaris arrived to mumbai to oversome droughts & famine in their homeland. These communities spearheaded the development of commerce & trade in the city

Almost all settlements were largely along the religious lines. For e.g. locality of pydhonie physically sperated Hindu & Muslim settlements

The Sindhis who were a resident of the state of Sindh, lost their homes during the partition since and took shelter in Mumbai & settled in Sindhunagar (Ulhasnagar) & contributed to the progress of trade & commerce.

In 1782 William Hornby, then Governor of Bombay Presidency, initiated the Hornby Vellard project of connecting the isles, despite resistance from East India Company.

By 1845 the seven southern islands had been connected to form Old Mumbai, with an area of 435 sq.km. Railway viaducts and road bridges were built in the 19th century to connect Mumbai island to Sashti, and Sashti to the mainland. The old railway bridges over the Bhayandar & Naigaon creeks can still be seen from the Virar locals. The channels separating Mumbai and Turbhe islands from Sashti Island were filled in the early 20th century.

The present day area from Bandra to Dahisar are a part of Sashti island. The ancient Kanheri caves, Jogeshwari caves, Mahakali caves fall in this region

(right): Mumbai after reclamation(left): Fort area after reclamation

Fact: It took 60 yrs (1784-1845) to merge the 7 islands of Mumbai into one landmass

Rajabai Towre under

construction:Mumbai

University Building &

Rajabhai tower, standing 260 ft

tall and endowed with

amazing sculptures, it

was financed by Cotton

entrepreneur and banker Premchand Roychand in the late 19th

century

Mahalakshmi mandir

As per the legend, 1784, when the Hornby Project kept failing to fill the breach at worli, the chief engineer, a Pathare Prabhu, dreamt of Goddess Lakshmi in the sea near Worli. He searched the waters & actually found an idol of the Goddess & built the Mahalakshmi temple in the sea. Only then did the Hornby Project work resumed without failures

Marine Drive, 1930

Bombay elphiston road

Carnac Road, now renamed as Tilak Marg – notice the Crawford market in the back groundKalbadevi Road

Oval Maiden, check the Rajabai Tower in the backgrond

View from Malabar hill

Queens Road Church gate station with Marine drive in the background

Bullock cart on Mumbai streets

• Indian National Congress was founded in 1885 in a hall overlooking the Gowalia Tank MaidanIn the historical trial of Bal Gangadhar Tilak under the Bombay High Court (for charges of sedition put forth by british),

• Tilak spoke out to the world as to what was in the minds of the Indian people - “Swaraj (independence) is my birthright and I shall have it”. This statement aroused a sleeping nation to action making them aware of their political plight under foreign rule

• Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, arrived in Bombay in 1915 after giving a spirited fight against inhuman apartheid in South Africa and thus the concept of “Swadeshi”, “Ahimsa” & “Satyagraha” were introduced in India

• In 1921 (after the death of Tilak) Mumbai’s citizens contributed over Rs. 1 crore to “Tilak Swaraj Fund” which gave a immense boost to entire freedom struggle

• The Quit India Movement took off from Mumbai on August 7, 1942 by the Congress Party in a public meeting at Gowalia Tank Maidan (now renamed August Kranti maidan).

• The Mumbai Mutiny of 18th Feb 1946 marked the first and most serious revolt by the Indian military personnel of the Western naval fleet against the British rule. From the initial flashpoint in Mumbai, the mutiny spread and found support through India, from Karachi to Calcutta and ultimately came to involve 78 ships, 20 shore establishments and 20,000 sailors. This is was the last straw that broke the camel’s back and forced the mighty British empire to finally announce India’s independence

Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Freedom Fighter, Editor, Social Reformer

Gowalia Tank (The tank has been buried and a ground created over it)

First Indian National Congress, 1885

Elephanta island – original name was Gharapuri (or Puri, place of caves), which was called by Portuguese as Elephanta after seeing a monolithic basalt sculpture of an elephant at the entrance. The britishers made a failed attempt to move take the elephant to British museum (fortunately their crane broke down and the elephant today sits just outside the buyculla zoo)

Dhobi Talao – washerman’s pond until 17th century, its been buried since then Parel – derived from the Parali Vaijanath Mahadev temple of the 13th century dedicated to Shiva. The Portuguuese

demolished this & built a Jesuit church & convent in its place

Elphinstone circle – original name Amliagal (meaning - in front of tamarind tree, even today a Tamarind land exists)

Chinch Bunder (south of Dongri near the shore) – chinch means tamarind in Marathi

Bhendi Bazar – derived from a bhendi plantation.

Some of the earlier most inhabitants were Kolis (whose major occupation was fishing), Agris (salt-makers), Bhandaris (who were toddy trappers), Vadvals or Malis (were gardeners). Thus there were a variety plantations on

the islands which gave name to quite a few places in mumbai.

Byculla – derived from Bhaya (Cassia fistula) & khala means at ground level

At extreme south of Parel island was a tamarind covered valley, hence the name Chinchpokli

Parel – pronounced as Paral, derived from the Parali Vaijanath Mahadev temple built by the Brahmins of the 13th century dedicated to Shiva. The Portuguese demolished this & built a Jesuit church & convent in its place

Bamnoli (between Vadala & Parel) derived from Baman-aali (baman is Brahman & aali means row) which was a Brahmin settlement

The name of the 7th island was also derived from the rows of banyan (vad) as Vad-ali (aali means row) or Varali (Worli)

The northern most main island (present day Bandra-to-Bhayandar) was called Sashti (which means 66), since it comprised of group of 66 villages. It was called as Salsette by Portuguese

Thane – derived from Sthan or Sthanaka, capital of Shilaharas. Slabs & copper plates of this era were discovered in Thane

Mazgaon – derived from Machchagram (machcha – fish, gram-village)

Trombay – original name Turbhe. Trombay given by Portuguese

Khar – (salty in Marathi) for its vicinity to the sea near Khar Danda

Dharavi derived from daar (which means the door of the island)

Khumbarwada – kumbhar means potter. Potters from Saurashtra lived here

Sewri derived from Sivawadi

Versova – original name Vesaave which was a koli hamlet

Bandra – original name Vandre (which means Bunder or port)

Santa-cruz – named by Portuguese. Local name Shantinagar

Goregaon is named after the Gore family who lived there since ages

Mumbai peninsula is 2 meters above sea-level

the area of Greater Mumbai is 603 km2, comprising Bombay City 157 km2 and Suburbs 446 km2. Greater Mumbai district (smallest in Maharashtra) & covers an area of 437.71 sq. km. that constitutes 0.14 per cent of total area of Maharashtra

Greater Mumbai comprises the Mumbai, South Sashti and Turbhe Islands,

The entire Greater Mumbai is made of Deccan basalt flows & their acid & basic variants and also some fossiliferous sediments mainly of tufaceous & partly of fresh water origins rich in fauna

Almost 50% of the city area and 23% of the suburban area has been reclaimed from below sea-level by infilling, & pushing the sea outward through dyke-walls like those of the Back Bay reclamation

Greater Mumbai (satellite image)

Mumbai lies over more than 10 seismic fault lines. The coastal plain to the east of Mumbai is prone to earthquakes of even higher intensity, upto 7.5 on the Richter scale.

The Harbour Bay is studded from south to north with many islands: Kansa or Gull islet (easter side) Karanja islan, Cross or Gibbet island, (situated opposite the Victoria Dock) Butcher island Elephanta island Oyster Rock Hog island (1km east of Elephanta), Henery and Kenery.

Ferry Wharf is a wharf along the Thane Creek, along the coast of Dockyard Road on the Eastern seafront of Mumbai. The wharf serves as the port for numerous fishermen who bring in their daily catch. Ferry services link up JNPT, Uran to the west, and Rewas and Mandwa to the south

Apollo Bunder (area before Gateway of India was erected)

The central horse shoe valley in the hills used to be drained south by the Mahim river in the past. This river has been dammed in its upper reaches, so mruch so this valley today accommodates three small fresh water lakes, the Tulsi, the Vihar and the Powai, one below the other, that supply the city with 3 per cent of its domestic and other needs of water supply. Below Powai, the river today is mostly a storm drain and a gutter of sewerage, blocked off by the construction of the Santacruz airpoit at its Kurla end. The lower reaches is a shallow, fastly silting up drain of industrial wastes emptying into the Mahim Bay.

The Kanheri hill complex has a radial drainage system, with numerous rain torrents washing down its slopes in all directions. The largest of them is the Dahisar river that rises on the southern flanks of the Kanheri hills, and drains west to join the Marve creek; this river, however, has been blocked to form the Dahisar project, to augment the water supply to the city to a small extent.

Juhu, Varsova, and Marve, are sand bars pushed inland by the sea, and resting on knolls, Dharavi and Rai Murdhe. Today they form together a single land mass, off the Ulhas mouth.

Surrounding the central hilly region, are extensive lowlying plains, that are reclaimed tidal marshes and flats just above tidal levels. They are widest to the west and south of the central hilly region, and narrowest to the north. In the east, along the Thane creek, sizable stretches of tidal swaps and salt pan areas, especially around Bhandup, still survive

Harbour in monsoon

.

Powai lake

Tulsi lake

Mumbai saw its first bus run on 15 July 1926 between Afgan Church and Crawford Market. Double deck buses were introduced in 1937 in order to cope better with the growing traffic. BEST is now The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply & Transport Undertaking.

The Bombay Tramway Company Limited was set up in 1873. The tram-cars were of two kinds—those drawn by one horse and those drawn by two. In 1905, The Bombay Electric Supply & Tramways Company Limited started the first electrically operated tram-car appeared on Mumbai’s roads in 1907. The passing years aggravated the problem of rush-hour traffic and to ease the situation, double decker trams were introduced in September, 1920.Dadar TT is Dadar Tram Terminus

Its first train, the first in the country, ran from Mumbai to Thane on 16th April 1853. In 1865, the railway went over the Borghat. By 1870 Calcutta and Madras had been linked with Mumbai by rail. The Bombay Baroda and Central India Railway (BBCI) was started in 1855. The first motor car appeared on Mumbai roads in 1901.

Mumbai Suburban Railway is the oldest in Asia established in 1847, then known as The Great Indian Peninsula Railway Company (G.I.P., for short) was established in 1849.

Early Trams

a gas street lamp.

Old Churchgate Railway Station

BEST’ first bus

It all began on October 15, 1932. It was on this day that J.R.D. Tata, the father of Civil Aviation in India and founder of Air India, took off from Drigh Road Airport, Karachi, in a tiny, light single-engined de Havilland Puss Moth on his flight to Bombay via Ahmedabad. He landed with his precious load of mail on a grass strip at Juhu.

Raja Bhimdev became the earliest pioneer of Mumbai in the 13th century who established his capital Mahikawati on one of the isles called Newale or Barad-bet (deserted island, “bet” in Marathi means island), present day Mahim. He built his palace & temple of goddess Prabhadevi in Naigaon (between Wadala & Parel)

Jamshetji Tata – the first pioneer entrepreneur who strived for economic independence of India during the British rule. He started an industrial revolution for swadeshi manufacturing of iron, steel, textile, electrical power generation. The Tata brand is his tribute to the nation

Justice Mahadev Govind Ranade, Social Reformer

Founder member of Prarthana Samaj in Mumbai which engaged

in a campaign of reformation without alienating the more

orthodox elements of the society

Dadabhai Naoroji, Freedom Fighter &

Founder of the Indian Nation

Congress in Mumbai

Madame Bhikaji CamaShe raised the First Flag of Indian Independence at a

Socialist Confernce in Germany & was very active in the Indian freedom struggle

Dr. Homi Bhabha, pioneer of nuclear science, founder of the Indian Atomic

Energy programme. While India was

striving for independence, he spearheaded the

country in an advanced field of

science & technology. He

founded TIFR, which is one of the best

school of physics in the world

Bhau Daji Lad, Educationist, Social Reformer,

Sheriff of Mumbai. He was instrumental in the some of the major reconstruction efforts of

the city, since 1857.

Dadasaheb Phalke, the

father of Indian Cinema

Senapati Pandurang Mahadev Bapat, Freedom Fighter, Social Reformer

Major figure in the Indian Independence struggle, which earned him the title “Senapati”

Dr. C. D. Deshmukh first Governor of RBI , Finance

Minister of IndiaHe was member of Board of

Governers of IMF & IBRD. An active supporter of Unified Maharashtra

Movement

Acharya Pralhad Keshav Atre (Literaturist, Social worker). An active member of the Unified

Maharastra Movement.

Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, Scholar, Social Reformer, Jurist.

He spent his whole life fighting against social discrimination. He was the chief

architect of Indian Constitution

Nana Jagannath Shankarshet, businessman & entrepreneur

Indian philanthropist and educationalist. A leader in Mumbai life. many schools, Sanskrit library in Mumbai, member of Mumbai Education Board

Bharat Ratna Maharshi Keshav Karve, He was the Pioneer of Women’s

Education & Upliftment & the right for widows to remarry in India.

These are just a few representational pioneers of Mumbai. There are many more who These are just a few representational pioneers of Mumbai. There are many more who had a hand in the making of Mumbai as one of the leading cities of Free Indiahad a hand in the making of Mumbai as one of the leading cities of Free India

MarineMarine Drive Drive

Taj Hotel, Gateway

Fact: Jamshetji Tata was denied access to Watson

Hotel since he was an Indian. In retaliation, he set up the

Taj Hotel

Fact: Nariman Point was named after Khursheed Framji Nariman, a Parsi visionary

Assembly hall

Hiranadani gardens Bandra-Worli sea link

Juhu Beach

Siddhivinayak mandir, Prabhadevi

Rajabai Tower

Shivaji Park, Dadar

Mumbai’s faithful “night-watchmen”

Clockwise from right: 1) Dahi handi2) Women riding bikes during Gudi Padva parade3) Ganesh Chaturthi festival

THE TENDULKARS THE SRK FAMILY THE TATA’S THE THAKRE’S

THE BACHAN’S THE AKHTAR’S THE KAPOOR’S THE AMBANI’S

BEST runs a total of

3,408 buses,

ferrying 4.5 million passenger

s daily over 340

routes

Mumbai Suburban Railways’s operate

on 2 zones: CR & WR carry a total of 6.3 million passengers

every day

Like a mother whose heart always has space for any number of children, Mumbai has crossed all limits & adjusted herself to accommodate all those who beseeched her.

A confluence of many varied cultures of the country – a mini India in the true sense Where two natives (Maharashtrians) tend to speak Mumbaiyya with each other, instead of

Marathi Which does not rest for a moment even after being hit by worst disasters – riots, bomb-blasts,

floods, strikes, accidents, terror-attacks Where there is always scope for adjusting one more commuter continuously even in a jam-

packed local, defying the laws of Mass & Volume Where distance is measured in minutes/hours . Where your driving skill ought to achieve a precision of 0.5mm (bumper-to-bumper) with 0%

tolerance, even while manouvering around a pothole Where you need to be skilled in jumping off/on a bus/train few secs before it stops, if you

happen to be in the first row near the door while alighting/boarding a bus/train Where 8 people can share a 6ftx6ft kholi & can still make space for more Where you don’t need a reason to play/talk cricket Where you don’t need your own vehicle to commute from one end of the city to another at any

time (thanks to the nearly 24hr coverage of BEST buses, Locals, black-n-yellow metered rides) Where the cheapest, quickest & most exciting shopping of varied items can be done in the

train itself … this is Aamchi Mumbai

Language Spoken: MumbaiyyaStaple Food: Vada-pav

Staple Drink: Cutting chai

Fact: Vada-paav was born 35yrs back when Ashok Vaidya a snack seller outside Dadar station decided to experiment