TIMES OF INDIA BUILDING-THROUGH THE AGES -

Churchgate Street, now known as Vir Nariman Road, in the Fort area of Bombay was taken in the 1860s to form part of an album entitled 'Photographs of India and Overland Route'. Churchgate Street runs from Horniman Circle at the east end to what was originally named Marine Drive at the edge of the Back Bay. Churchgate Station,

'Times of India'] Building, corner of Elphinstone Cir. - 1880 - Genl. Nassau Lees, Proprietor.-Photographer: E.O.S. and Company Medium: Photographic print Date: 1880-

['Times of India'] Building opposite St Thomas's Cathedral, connected with Elph. Cir. [Elphinstone Circle] - July 1898 - Kane, Bennet & Co.--Photographer: E.O.S. and Company Medium: Photographic print Date: 1898-

Bombay. Shigean A cart driven by oxen The Shigean is a small two-wheeled vehicle in use in Bombay and other Eastern cities. As a rule it is drawn by a couple of small oxen of the Zebu family. The Zebu, which varies considerably in size, is to be met with through India as a beast of draught and burden, and is occasionally used for riding. It can travel from twenty to thirty miles a day, and is a very docile creature. In the past, carts driven by oxen and bullocks were a popular mode of transport for the people of Mumbai (earlier called Bombay). Some of these carts used by the elite had a covered roof and leather seats. The driver usually had a seat just behind the bullocks while his passengers were seated at a height behind him

Taj Hotel was completed on December 16, 1903-hotel offers 565 rooms for the guests that include 46 suites. There are 12 rooms in this hotel that can seat 18 to 2000 people for receptions and cocktails or 25 to 500 persons in auditorium style.--THIS PICTURE SHOWS 'GATE WAY OF INDIA 'IS NOT MADE YET -AND THAT PLACE AS OCCUPIED BY JUST A SHED TO WELCOME THE WEARY SHIP PASSENGERS FROM ENGLAND; AFTER ALMOST 1 MONTH OF TRAVEL--GATE WAY OF INDIA Designed by George Wittet, an architect, Gateway of India took approximately 4 years (1920 to 1924) to get fully completed.

     GATE WAY OF INDIA
History
The main idea behind the construction of the Gateway of India was to celebrate the visit of King George V and Queen Mary to Bombay. Sir George Sydenham Clarke, the then Governor of Bombay, laid down the foundation stone of the monument in March 1911. However, his plan was approved in 1914 and the reclamations at Apollo Bundar got completed in 1919. Designed by George Wittet, an architect, Gateway of India took approximately 4 years (1920 to 1924) to get fully completed. 

First Major Event 
The first major event that took place at the Gateway of India was the passing of the First Battalion of the Somerset Light Infantry. They were the last troops of the British to leave India after independence. The ceremony was conducted on 28th February 1948.
                                               now

General Post Office- 1794, Mr. Charles Elphinstone, the Postmaster General for the then Bombay Presidency, founded the General Post Office. A cluster of small buildings close to the Apollo Pier in the south of the new city housed the Bombay GPO. However, due to the damage caused by a fire, the GPO changed locations in 1869

ESPLANADE BOMBAY-NOW CALLED MAHATMA GANDHI ROAD-1900'S

Captain Little's Detachment [EAST INDIA COMPANY TROOPS FROM BOMBAY]

The first troops under Captain Little, consisting of the 800 men from both the 8th, and 11th Bombay Native Infantry, supported by one company of European, and two companies of Native Artillery equipped with six 6 pounder guns, left Bombay on the 23rd May 1790 and sailed south to Jaigur 

The expedition was intended to support a Mahratta force under Putseram Bhow which was going to attack Tipu Sultan's Mysore. The East India Company was under threat from Tipu, as were his other neighbours the Nizam of Hyderabad, and the Mahrattas.

The East India Company hoped to reduce Tipu's numerical superiority by forming a coalition with the Nizam and the Mahrattas, and to thereby be able to threaten Tipu's borders from all sides.

It seems extraordinary today how such small forces could be projected over such long distances, and into parts of India which were so little known by the English at this time.First the expedition sailed 180 miles south from Bombay to Jaigur. Then it sailed perhaps another 50 miles up the river from Jaigur, to cover the 25 miles, the Crow would have flown.

The troops then disembarked and started to march overland covering 275 miles in a relatively straight line to Dharwad, but which was probably much further on foot for the poor Sepoys and camp followers.

The first force arrived in late May 1790 in time to be caught in the onset of the Monsoon rains.A second contingent was sent down the coast as reinforcements after the Monsoon had blown out. The arrival this second detachment under the command of Colonel Frederick, that had departed from Bombay on the 19th of November 1790, is described in more detail by Moor who was present with this fleet.

"The fleet of boats, with the Intrepid, anchored in the bay, formed by the entrance of Jaigur river, on the 21 st of November, and saluted the fort with five guns, to which one was returned. The entrance to this river is defended by forts on each side, considerably elevated under the southern one of which it is necessary to pass, and which would, were they in repair, be a sufficient defence. A wall of communication is carried up the side of the hill to the southern fort, from a battery of eleven embrasures on a level with the water, which, like the other fortifications, are in very bad repair. The bay will shelter small vessels from the violence of the south-west monsoon, but has not sufficient water to admit any of considerable draft, there being but two and a half fathoms on the bar at three quarters ebb, and the Intrepid grounded at low water. Lieutenant M'Luer says, there are eight fathoms near the fort, which he calls Zyghur, and observed it to be in latitude; 17°. 16'. N. " 

 Google Earth Image showing the fort as well as the lower batteries
along the Jaigad River, as well as the surviving connecting walls. The white scale bar measures 100 metres.
Click on image for a larger version.

The local Mahratta commander of the fort must have had a commanding view out to sea. It is just possible to make out the headland to the north around which Captain Pickett brought his small fleet of Country vessels containing the reinforcements for the force besieging Dharwad.

Photo showing one of the Fort Towers looking out to sea.
Jaigad Fort. Showing one of the surviving towers.

The Woodstacks Bombay 1857.

The Old Fives Courts, Matoongha Bombay. Dec 1857.

                        FIVES CARD GAME


FIVES IS HAND BALL GAME ;WITH RULES SIMILAR TO SQUASH version of handball which is a sport in which players compete by hitting a ball with their hands against a wall.  It is played in every country in the world.  The British versions is called Fives and is run by the Fives Federation which oversees the running of one, three and four wall Fives in the UK.  There are over 100 Fives playing centers in schools and sports centers across Britain.  

One Wall Fives is the simplest and cheapest version of Fives.  The rules are similar to squash: players hit a tennis ball against the front wall with their hands making sure that the ball lands within the playing area.  Three court sizes (primary, secondary and competition) allows the game to be played from an early age right through to adulthood.

One Wall Fives is ideal for solving the sporting and social problems for schools and communities in the inner city.  It ensures facilities and access for all because it is inexpensive to play, takes up little space, involves good exercise, competitive spirit and minimal cost to the player or school.

The Old Artillery Mess, Matoonga Bombay, Dec 1857.

The Adelphi Hotel Bombay. Dec 1857. This hotel is believed to have been at Byculla.

BOMBAY-HANGING GARDEN

The Esplanade, Bombay 1857.--THEN AND NOW--The following photographs of Bombay were taken either by, or for Captain Charles Barton of the Bombay Artillery. Charles had been serving with the Expeditionary Force which had landed in Persia in 1856. While on that expedition, he or one of his colleagues had acquired a camera. The expeditionary force started to leave Persia in May 1857 to return to India. It is not clear on which of the ships Charles and his fellow officers came back on, but it is probable that these photos were taken between June and December 1857. The first photo suggests that the returning troops were at first unable to find room in the barracks or hotels in Bombay, so that they had set up camps inside gardens of bungalows along the Esplanade. The two tents are identical to those in the photo taken of his camp at Bushire earlier that year.

Tiger hunting from elephants

Pig Sticking in Bombay Presidency 1856

Mahatma Gandhi's house in Bombay (Mumbai).[MANI BHAVAN] Now it's a tourist attraction, and worth visiting.

Teva Tanza Mens Sandals In Bombay Brown

$70.00

Eleanor In Bombay-oil on canvas, 8″x10″.

They Met in Bombay-1941-Directed by Clarence Brown. Starring Clark Gable, Rosalind Russell, Peter Lorre. The best-laid plans of jewel thief Gable and lady crook Russell fall apart when the thief unintentionally becomes a hero while posing as a British officer.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
	Clark Gable	...	Gerald Meldrick
	Rosalind Russell	...	Anya Von Duren
	Peter Lorre	...	Capt. Chang
	Jessie Ralph	...	Duchess of Beltravers
	Reginald Owen	...	Gen. Allen
	Matthew Boulton	...	Inspector Cressney
	Eduardo Ciannelli	...	Giovanni Riccio, Hotel Manager (as Edward Ciannelli)

The Temple and Tank of Walkeschwar at Bombay," by Edwin Lord Weeks, 1890's

*"Temple of Ambernath near Callian," a wood engraving by E. Therond, 1878*

"Hindoo women of Bombay in ceremonial dress"*;

*"Visit of the Viceroy of India to the Sassoon Dock at Bombay," from the Illustrated London News, 1865*

*"View of Bombay showing the fort," from 'History of the Indian Mutiny', 1858*

*"Native entertainment to European troops at Bombay," from the Illustrated London News, 1858

1858-BOMBAY FORT

*"The Hon. East India Company's fleet of transports and war-steamers in Bombay Harbour, previous to their departure for the Persian Gulf," Illustrated London News, 1857*

Commencement of the Reservoir, in the Valley of Vehar, Island of Salsette," Illustrated London News, 1856*