The Rise of Bombay
A Retrospect

The history of the port city of Bombay as told in 1902 by a British civil servant who lived there.

Stephen Meredyth Edwardes (Author)

9781108144070, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 2 June 2011

410 pages, 5 b/w illus. 15 maps
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.3 cm, 0.6 kg

This work, reprinted from the 1901 Census of India Series in 1902, examines the growth of the great Indian port city, giving contemporary statistics as well as recounting its long history before and during British rule (the East India Company had begun trading there in the 1660s). The editor, Stephen Meredyth Edwardes (1873–1927), was a civil servant based in Bombay. Using sources from travellers' accounts to official documents, this work tells the story of Bombay, 'one of the most splendid of Imperial Cities', as Edwardes describes it. Starting in prehistoric times, he discusses the topography of the city, its prosperity through trade and its early rulers, before moving on to the significance of Hinduism and Islam, the arrival of the Portuguese and finally the establishment of British rule. Illustrated with maps and photographs, this work gives a vivid history of the development of one of India's most important cities.

Preface
Part I. 'Heptanesia': 1. Mumbadevi
2. Islam
3. Nossa Senhora de Esperança
Part II. 'The Island of the Good Life': Eleven Periods
Appendix and Index.

Subject Areas: Asian history [HBJF]