BOMBAY (THE CITY IN COLONIAL INDIA)

Presidency cities

The pace of urbanization in India was slow during the Colonial period. The capitals of Bombay, Bengal and madras presidencies in British India was known as Presidency Cities. These were multi functioned cities- major ports, ware houses, homes and offices, army camps as well as educational institutions, museums and libraries.

Formation of Bombay city

Bombay was the premier city of India. It expanded very rapidly. In 17th century Bombay was a group of seven Island under the Portuguese control In 1661, the control of the islands passed into British hands after the marriage of British King Charles II to Portuguese princess The East India company shifted its base from Surat to Bombay

Initially Bombay was the major outlet of cotton textile from Gujarat. In 19th century- as a port through which large quantities of raw materials such as cotton and opium would pass. Gradually it also become the important administrative centre in Western India End of 19th major Industrial centre

Population structure of Bombay City in 19th century

Bombay became the capital of the Bombay presidency in 1819 after the Maratha defeat in the Anglo Maratha war. The city quickly expanded Large communities of traders, bankers, artisans and shopkeepers settled in Bombay The establishment of the textile mill increased the number of the migrants. The first textile mill- 1854 1921- 85 cotton mill and 146,000 workers Large numbers flowed in from the nearby district of Ratnagiri

In 1919- 1926: 23 per cent of mill workforce were the women community Bombay dominated in maritime trade of India Junction of two major railways, it also encouraged the higher scale migration Famine in the dry regions of Kutch drove large number of people in to Bombay in 1888-89 Worried about the influx of population during the plague epidemic of 1898, district authorities sent about 30000 people back to their homes

Accommodation facility in London City

Bombay was a crowded city In early days, Bombay did not grow according to any plan and houses especially in the Fort area were interspersed with gardens. The Fort area was divided in to two Native town: Indians White sections: Europeans A racial pattern was true of all three Presidency cities Because of the unplanned expansion of city the crisis of housing and water supply became acute

70 per cent of the working people lived in the thickly populated chawls of Bombay Workers walked to their place of work, 90 per cent of mill workers housed in Girangaon, a mill village. The private land lords, merchants, bankers and building contractors constructed a chawls for to earn the money Chawls divide in to smaller one room tenements which had no private toilets. Homes being small, streets and neighborhoods were used for cooking, washing, leisure activities

Liquor shops and akharas came up in the empty spot. The Chawls were also the place of the exchange of news about jobs, strikes, riots and demonstrations. The village headman settled the disputes, organized food supplies or arranged informal credit He also brought important information on political developments The depressed class found it even more difficult to find housing

The planning of Bombay came about as a result of fears about plague epidemic The City of Bombay Improvement Trust was established in 1898, it focused the clearing of poorer homes out of the city centre In 1918 Rent Act a passed to keep rents reasonable, so land lords withdrew houses from the market