BOMBAY. 



BOMBAY. 



30 



in Bombay presidency during five years (1845-46 1849-50), stood 

 thus : 210,110*. ; 177,756*. ; 234,500*. ; 210,685*. ; 215,759*. Hitherto 

 the chief cotton-field of British India has been in Guzerat, in the 

 Bombay presidency. Of 165,665,220 Ibs. of cotton exported from the 

 three presidencies of India in 1849-50, the amount furnished by Bom- 

 bay was 150,754,063 Ibs. Of this quantity 105,637,028 Ibs. were 

 exported to Great Britain. Opium grown and manufactured within 

 the territories of Bombay is subjected to a heavy duty, with a view to 

 discourage its production. The cultivation of the poppy is stated to 

 have ceased in the district of Ahmedabad in 1839, and nearly so in 

 those of Kaira and Candeish. The production of opium has been 

 prohibited in Sinde. The government purchase all that is produced 

 in Bombay, and supply through the licensed retailers the quantity 

 required for home consumption. The receipts from the opium 

 revenue forfive years (1845-461849-50) were as follows : 595,624*. ; 

 606,863*. ; 371,855*. ; 887,506*. ; 729,483*. 



"BOMBAY (the Island of) is situated on the western coast of Hin- 

 dustan, off the shore of the Concan in the province of Bejapore. The 

 1 9th parallel of N. latitude passed nearly through the centre of the 

 island. It lies to the south of the island of Salsette, a dependency of 

 Bombay. The two islands are connected by a causeway, constructed 

 in 1805 by Mr. Duncan, then governor of the presidency. 



Bombay Island is little more than 8 miles long from north to south, 

 and about 3 miles broad in its widest part. It is formed by two 

 ranges of whinstone rock of unequal length, running parallel to each 

 other on opposite sides of the island, at a distance of between two and 

 three miles. The eastern range is about 7 miles long, and the western 

 about 5 miles long ; they are united at the north and south by belts 

 of sandst9ne which are only a few feet above the level of the sea. 

 The interior of the island was formerly liable to be flooded so as to 

 give the whole the appearance of a group of small islands. This flood- 

 ing is now prevented by the construction of several substantial works 

 which keep out the spring-tides ; but as the lower parts of the island 

 are ten or twelve feet under high-water mark, much of the interior is, 

 during the rainy season, reduced to a swamp. The site of the new 

 town of Bombay is subject to this disadvantage, so that during the 

 continuance of the wet monsoon the houses are separated from each 

 other by water sometimes for seven or eight months of the year : 

 jxjt was recovered from the sea in the latter part of the last 

 century. 



The natural difficulties of the island must have prevented any set- 

 tlement upon it by Europeans but for the advantages of its position 

 for commerce, and its harbour, which is unequalled for safety through- 

 out the British empire in India. This excellent harbour, on account 

 of which the island received its name (Bom Bahia) from the Portu- 

 guese, is bounded If. and W. by the islands of Salsettc, Bombay, and 

 Colabba, or Old Woman's Island. Colabba is a small island or narrow 

 promontory, naturally connected by a mass of rock, rising near the 

 surface of the water, with the south-eastern extremity of Bombay, 

 and now united to it by a causeway which is covered by the water at 

 spring-tides. The cantonments for the European troops are situated 

 on Colabba. East of the harbour, about four miles from Bombay, is 

 Butcher's Island, and behind this the island of Elephanta, celebrated 

 for its caves and temples, ouly five miles from the Mahratta shore. 

 Three miles south of Butcher's Island, and five miles east from Bom- 

 bay, is Caranja Island, on the west side of which is an extensive shoal. 

 The entrance to the harbour thus formed is between Colabba and 

 Caranja islands, or rather between the shoal just mentioned and a 

 reef of rocks surrounding on all sides the point of Colabba, and extend- 

 ing about three miles to the southward. The channel between these 

 ia about 3 miles wide, and 7 to 8 fathoms deep. A sunken rock and 

 k occur in the passage. There is a lighthouse built on the 

 m extremity of Colabba Island, 150 feet above the level of the 

 sea, which may be seen seven leagues off the coast. 



There is no other important harbour in British India where the 

 rise and fall of the tides are sufficient to admit of the formation of 

 wet-docks. The rise at ordinary spring-tides is 14 feet ; occasionally 

 it is three feet higher. 



Arrian, in the ' Periplus of the Erythrean Sea,' says that this island 

 was then called Kalliena, and that it was little frequented. It had 

 previously been an established commercial port, but Sandanes, one of 

 the sovereigns of Barugaza, prohibited any of the Egyptian trading- 

 vessels from entering the harbour ; and if any were compelled to do 

 so by accident or stress of weather, a guard was immediately put on 

 board, and they were taken to Barugaza. 



.Lay was ceded by the Moguls to the Portuguese in 1530, and 



Cession of the English on the marriage of Charles II. 



with the Infanta Catharine of Portugal. By the marriage-contract 



the king wag to receive 500,000*. in money, the town of Tangier in 



Africa, and the Island of Bombay with its dependencies, together with 



permission for his subjects t<J carry on a free trade with all the Por- 



tuguene settlement* in India and Brazil. A fleet of five ships of war, 



i tided by tin- Earl of Marlborough, with 500 soldiers on board, 



was sent to receive pomemion of Bombay, where they arrived on 



September 18th, 1662. Krom some misunderstanding the Portuguese 



'inplete the cession, and the fleet returned to 



England. This matter was not arranged between the two govern- 

 ment* until 1664, when possession was taken in the name of the king 



of England by Mr. Cooke, and Bombay has since that time remained 

 in the possession of the English. The island was transferred to the 

 East India Company in 1668 : the deed of transference states that 

 the island is " to be held of the king in free and common socage, as of 

 the manor of East Greenwich, on the payment of the annual rent of 

 10*. in gold on the 30th September in each year." With the place 

 itself the Company received authority to exercise all political powers 

 necessary for its defence and government. In 1674-75 a mutiny 

 broke out in Bombay, but was easily repressed, when the ringleaders 

 were tried and executed, the Company then first exercising the power 

 of enforcing martial law. Another insurrection in 1683 was more 

 formidable, and occasioned so much annoyance to the government 

 that it was deemed expedient to guard against any similar attempts 

 in future by transferring to Bombay the seat of the Company's 

 government in India, which had previously been placed at Surat. In 

 1687 the title of regency was given to the administration at Bombay, 

 and unlimited power over the rest of the Company's settlements in 

 the East was given to the governor. 



Since the first occupation, of the island by the English, the resident 

 population has enormously increased. At that time it amounted to 

 about 15,000. In 171 6 the number was 16,000; hi 1816 it was 161,550. 

 Including the fluctuating population, which is at all times very great, 

 it was estimated by Von Orlich in 1842 that Bombay contained 

 200,000 (which is of course almost altogether that of the city). Since 

 that time it has augmented so rapidly that by the Census taken at the 

 beginning of 1850 it amounted to 566,119, of which number about 

 296,000 were Hindoos, about 125,000 Mohammedans, and about 

 115,000 Parsees ; there were 6088 Europeans, 7456 native Christians, 

 ami 1132 Jews. 



The floating population is of a very mixed character, and consists 

 principally of Persians, Arabs, Mahrattas, Carnatas, Portuguese, 

 Indians from Goa, and a great number of sailors. 



The property of the island is principally in the hands of the Parsee 

 inhabitants, who are active and intelligent, taller, better formed, more 

 athletic and of more handsome features than the Hindoos. The 

 principal merchants on the island are Parsees, and it is usual for 

 European houses of commerce to contain one or more Parsee partners, 

 who supply a great part of the capital. These people wear the 

 Asiatic costume, but they assimilate more than other eastern people 

 to the customs of Europeans, and nearly the whole of them speak 

 English ; their children are taught the language, and many of them 

 speak it as fluently as Europeans ; at the same time they adhere 

 most rigidly to their religious customs and observances. In the 

 morning and evening they crowd to the shore, where they prostrate 

 themselves in adoration before the sun. They deposit their dead in 

 large cylindrical buildings, each 25 feet high, the interior of which is 

 buUt up solidly with masonry to within 5 feet of the top, with the 

 exception of a kind of well, 15 feet in diameter hi the centre. The 

 bodies are deposited between this well and the wall, and being only 

 loosely wrapped in cloth, are speedily devoured by vultures. The 

 bones are at intervals throw into the well in the centre, from the 

 bottom of which they can be removed through subterraneous passages. 

 The more wealthy of the sect have private tombs of similar con- 

 struction. 



The cocoa-nut-tree formerly grew very abundantly on the island, but 

 the spots now capable of being cultivated will hardly yield a week's 

 supply of provisions for the inhabitants, who are dependent upon 

 the farmers and gardeners of Salsette, which island is well cultivated. 

 BOMBAY (the City of) stands principally on a narrow neck of land 

 at the south-eastern extremity of the Island of Bombay, in 18 56' 

 N. lat., 72 53' E. long. The fortifications are extensive, and would 

 require a numerous garrison for their defence ; towards the sea the 

 works are extremely strong, but on the land side, supposing an enemy 

 to have made good a footing on the island, they would offer compara- 

 tively little resistance. The houses within the walls are built of 

 wood, with verandahs and sloping roofs covered with tiles. In 1803 

 a fire destroyed many houses ; after which a great number of dwellings 

 were built on a salt ground then newly recovered from the sea. Many 

 of the dwellings are commodious, particularly in what is called the 

 European quarter. The shops and warehouses are upon a large scale. 

 The northern quarter of the fort, principally inhabited by Parsee 

 families, is dirty and uninviting. The houses without the walls, 

 occupied by the poorer classes, are built of clay, and thatched with 

 palmyra leaves. The chief public buildings in the town are the 

 cathedral, two Scotch churches, several Portuguese and Armenian 

 churches, three Jewish synagogues, a number of mosques and Hindoo 

 temples ; the government-house, the custom-house, and other govern- 

 ment offices. The largest Hindoo temple is that dedicated to Momba 

 Devi, a short distance out of the town. There is likewise an hospital 

 founded and endowed by Sir Jemsetjee Jeejeboy. 



The barracks, arsenal, and docks are all within the fort. The docks 

 although they are the property of the East India Company, are 

 entirely under the management of Parsees, by whom merchant- 

 vessels of 1000 to 1200 tons burden, frigates, and even liue-of-battle 

 ships are built. These docks were about forty years ago enlarged and 

 improved under the superintendence of Major Cooper of the Engineers. 

 The buildings are greatly admired for their architectural beauty ; the 

 slips and basins are calculated for vessels of any size. The teak-wood 



