Mumbai

One of the world’s great cities, Mumbai has been the hub of the country’s economic and industrial activity.   And yet, about three hundred years ago, Mumbai was no more than an obscure bunch of tiny islands.Sometime at the beginning of the eighteenth century these ‘islands’ were joined together and the project was named Hornby Vellard that lasted till 1845 to form what was to grow into the First City of India. The growth, in area and population, as well as in material prosperity, has been unabated till this day.
It was in the period from 1820 to 1857 that Mumbai took its first strides towards becoming a ‘modern’ city. From the beginning the city transport was modelled on that of London. The period witnessed many significant changes. Early nineteenth century Mumbai could not have been proud of its roads. Even the so-called main roads were very narrow. Horse-owners would often use them for stabling the animals. The government woke up to the situation in 1806, and issued orders for the widening of the Parel Road and the Breach Candy Road to sixty feet. The city underwent remarkable transformation during the sixties of the last century. Wide modern-looking roads were planned.  In the year 1869 the city became one of the important seaports on the Arabian Sea. Major industrial development took place in the city for another   thirty years. 
It was at about this time that some of the fine public buildings which give the city its imposing look came up, particularly in the Fort area. The small University area next to it distinguished itself architecturally with the Convocation Hall, and the Rajabai Tower over-topping the Library. . The solemn gothic pile of the High Court next to it held you with its stately dimensions. These structures appeared around the year 1870. Soon the stretch between FloraFountain and the Crawford Market had equally impressive buildings. Mumbai was by then an attractive city, not merely a prosperous one.
At the beginning of the nineteenth century... [continues]

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