BOMBAY-Back Bay in 1861.-Photographer: Johnson, William Medium: Photographic print Date: 1861

Photograph taken by William Johnson in 1861, of Back Bay in Bombay (Mumbai), Maharashtra, from an album of 40 albumen prints taken in the 1860s. The busy port and industrial hub of Bombay is the capital of Maharashtra. During British rule, it was the administrative capital of the Bombay Presidency. Extending over a peninsula into the Arabian Sea on the west coast of India, Bombay prospered with maritime trade and became the chief commercial centre of the Arabian Sea. Originally a collection of fishing villages of the Koli community built on seven islands, Bombay was by the 14th century controlled by the Gujarat Sultanate who ceded it to the Portuguese in the 16th century. In 1661 it was part of the dowry brought to Charles II of England when he married the Portuguese princess Catherine of Braganza. In the 19th century, Bombay burgeoned with economic activity and grew huge. Land reclamation along Back Bay provided for further development. Back Bay is located at the southeast tip of Bombay, near the fort and central district. In this view local craft are beached in the foreground.