Tuesday, April 12, 2011

[7] Glimpses of old Bombay and western India, with other papers (1900)part 6


[PART-1Ahttp://oldphotosbombay.blogspot.com/2011/09/1a-bombaymumbai-taxi-1850-to-2001-also_3982.html




[PART-1Bhttp://oldphotosbombay.blogspot.com/2011/09/1-b-bombaymumbai-taxi-1850-to-2001-also.html

[PART-2]http://oldphotosbombay.blogspot.com/2011/04/glimpses-of-old-bombay-and-western.html


[PART-3]http://oldphotosbombay.blogspot.com/2011/04/glimpses-of-old-bombay-and-western_02.html


[PART-4]http://oldphotosbombay.blogspot.com/2011/04/4glimpses-of-old-bombay-and-western.html


[PART-5]http://oldphotosbombay.blogspot.com/2011/04/dedicated-to-first-city-mumbai-bombay.html


[PART-6]http://oldphotosbombay.blogspot.com/2011/04/6.html


[PART-7]http://oldphotosbombay.blogspot.com/2011/04/6-glimpses-of-old-bombay-and-western.html


[PART-8]http://oldphotosbombay.blogspot.com/2011/04/7.html


[PART-9http://oldphotosbombay.blogspot.com/2011/04/first-anglo-maratha-war-was-first-of.html

[PART] 10]  http://oldphotosbombay.blogspot.com/2011/06/bombay-history-of-cinema-1896-and.html

              

            DEDICATED TO THE FIRST CITY-MUMBAI-[BOMBAY] OF INDIA.part-7 OF 9



            Glimpses of old Bombay and western India, with other papers (1900)



Parsee Ladies' stall at a bazaar held at Bombay--in aid of Lady

Minto's fund for the

 provision of medical women in India," from The Graphic, 1889


*

 


Parsee Tower of Silence, India," a chromolithograph from a

book

published in 1881*











Parsee children, Bombay," from 'India and its Native Princes' by

Louis Rousselet, 1878*




Pulikesin II exchanges envoys with Sassanaid Khusro II
Around 625-26 AD , Chalukya King Pulakesin II (AD 610-42) 
exchanged envoys with Sassanian King Khusrau II (AD 596- 626). The same has been depicted in Ajantha Cave I. This information is also mentioned by persian historian Tabari, who says in the 35th year of Khusrau perviz reign an Indian King Pharmeish or paramesa(parmeswara - title of pulakesin) sent to an ambassador carrying letters and presents to monarch and sons.The return embassy by Khusrau is depicted in Ajanta.

The Emperors of Shilahar dynasty were disciples of Lord Shiva and the Kopineshwar Temple has been built during their reign





At this time the Shilahars also divided the city into different sections and named them as ‘padas’. It is seen that these padas exist even today  by names of Naupada, Patlipada, Agripada etc.  



The first census took place in the year 1881 and the population of Thane at the time was 14,456

Mumbai Names 3

This one comes after a long gap after I wrote Mumbai Names 1 and Mumbai Names 2. The Bombay Gazette also mentions that many of the names of places in Bombay are very naturally of Koli origin. Kolis are nature and tree worshippers and thus names of so many areas are associated with trees and vegetables. This list is still incomplete and to be continued…

Cumballa Hill: This area near Kemps Corner is named because of the huge number of ‘kamals’, i.e. lotus groves 



lotus flower




that used to grow here. Today, Cumballa Hill does not have any lotuses growing but has many skyscrapers and some old buildings inhabited by Parsis.

Dharavi: Asia’s largest slum located between Sion and Mahim gets its name as it was at the site at the doors to the island. (dar - door in Marathi)

Bhuleshwar: This very old area of South Bombay which also houses the flower market gets it name from the God-Shiva in the form of “Bhola” and thus Bhuleshwar.





Byculla: This name is supposed to be of early Hindu origin. This area used to have a lot of ‘bhaya’-'cassia fistula’ shrubs 

Buy cassia fistula, golden shower tree, bahava - plant online at nurserylive | Best plants at lowest price600 × 600




and this word was combined with ‘khala’ or level ground. Byculla is a very important train station on the Central Railway between Chinchpokli and Sandhurst Road.

Tardeo: This area near Bombay Central station derived its name from the trees of 'tad’or palms 
Borassus flabellifer - Wikipedia2580 × 4040
Palms 

that were flourishing below the Cumballa Hill. A deity('dev') was also named and installed here and thus the name tad-dev.

Acacia Nilotica Babul 100 Gram Seeds With Free Shipping7

Babulnath: There used to be a huge plantation of ‘Babul’ or acacia

arabica in this area, which is at the foothills of Malabar Hill. The deity of the temple built later (Shiva) also took this name and is a well-visited place of worship and is located very close to Chowpatty.

Chowpatty: The name became generic for all the beaches in Bombay- Girgaum, Juhu and Dadar but it was meant for the Girgaum ‘chaupatty’ because of the probable existence of four channels of inlets of sea near Girgaum.

old Mumbai

This tag is associated with 1 post

Rare Pictures of Old Bombay

Posted by ⋅ ⋅ Leave a comment
 
 
 
 
 
 
4 Votes

Being a Bombay (Mumbai) ite to the core (born and brought up in this fair city of dreams, it never ceases to amaze me how beautiful and empty the island once used to be. So pristine and peaceful…

The first picture below shows the old Fort of which only a few ruins remain, hidden deep within the market that encircles it. (circa 1826)

Chowpatty from Malabr Hill - 1850



CHOWPATTY BEACH VIEW FROM MALABAR HILL 1850


Wadala: This area located near Dadar T.T./Kings Circle was so named because of the banyan tree rows it that used to exist in this area. The name is a corruption of Wadali. Wad, which is the Marathi name for Banyan
and Ali, which means row.

Mahim: Mahim was a desert island washed by the waters of the western sea and sparsely populated by families of Koli fishermen. According to the Bombay Gazette, King Bimbadev (A.D. 1300) the mystery King and indisputable founder of Bombay, had built a city called Mahikavati 




Mahikavati Temple Mahim Palghar

from where the name Mahi or Mahim has been derived.

Mumbai is 'Bimbasthan' in 12th century tablet | Mumbai News - Times of India
Mumbai is 'Bimbasthan' in 12th century ...
timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Naigaum: This area (Nyaygrama) near Dadar (Central) was so named as King Bimbadev used to have a palace here where he used to have a ‘court of justice’ and a ‘hall of audience’. Nyay means justice in Marathi.






[1] [CLICK AND READ ABOUT BOMBAY]:-


  http://www.archive.org/stream/ashortsketchear00joshgoog#page/n3/mode/2up
                        


 [2] LIFE INSIDE BOMBAY FORT 1800-1850:-
 http://oldphotosbombay.blogspot.com/2009_02_19_archive.html

DESCRIPTION OF SHIPS MADE AROUND

BOMBAY 

-1500

Ships.



During this period the Thana coast was famous for

 its ship-building. Between 1550 and 1600 great

 ships built at Agashi and Bassein made many 


voyages to Europe, [Do Couto, IV. 99. Pyrard,


 French Edition. II. 114. No place had better timber

 than Bassein, Ditto, 115,] and, in 1634, the English

 had four pinnaces built for the coast trade, two at

 Daman and two at Bassein. [Bruee's Annals, I, 

334.]The Portuguese historian Gaspar Correa gives a

 fuller description than any previous writer of the


craft which were built at this time in the Konkan

 ports. The local boats in ordinary use were of two

 kinds, one which had the planking joined and sewn

 together with coir thread, the other whose planks 

were fastened with thin nails with broad heads

 which were rivetted inside with other broad heads

 fitted on. The ships sewn with coir had keels, those

 fastened with nails were fiat-bottomed; in other 

respects they were alike. The planks of the ship-

sides went as high as the cargo, and above the

 planks were cloths thicker than bed-sacking and

 pitched with bitumen mixed with fish and-cocoanut

 oil. Above the cloths were cane mats of he length

 of the ship, woven and very strong, a defence 

against  the sea which let no water pass through.

 Inside, instead of decks, were chambers for the 

cargo covered with dried and woven palm-leaves

, forming a shelving roof off which the rain ran and 

left the goods dry and unhurt. Above the palm-

leaves cane mats, were stretched, and on these the

 seamen walked without doing any harm. The crew

 were lodged above; no one had quarters below

 where the merchandise was stored. There was one

 large mast and two ropes on the sides, and one

 rope at the prow like a stay, and two halliards

 Which came down to the stern and helped to hold

 the mast. The yard had two-thirds of its length 

abaft and one-third before the mast, and the sail

 Avas longer abaft than forward by one-third. They

 had only a single sheet, and the tack of the sail at

 the bow was made fast to the end of a sprit, almost

 as large as the mast with which they brought the 

sail very forward, so that they steered very close to

 the wind and set the sails very flat. They had no 

top-masts and no more than one large sail. The 

rudder, which was very large and of thin planks, was

 moved by ropes which ran along the outside of the


 ship. The anchors were of hard wood, and they 

fastened stones to the


 shanks so that they went to the bottom. They

 carried their drinking water in square and high 

tanks. 



[Vasco da Gama's Three Voyages, 239-242. A full

account of the Portuguese shipping about 1600 is

 given in Pyrard, II. 118.]

Of Gujarat boats the ordinary deep-sea traders were


 apparently from 100 to 150 tons burden. Besides 


these, there were in the sixteenth century some


 great vessels from 600 to 1000 tons burden, [In


 1510 


Albuquerque found a beautiful fleet at Ormuz rigged


 out with Hags, Standards, and coloured ensigns.


 One


 of them was 600 tons and another 1000 tons, with


 many guns and fire-arms, and with men in sword-


proof 


dresses. She was so well fitted that she required


 nothing from the king's magazine. She had three


 great 


stone anchors. Corn. I. 105; II. 122.] and in the


 seventeenth century, in the pilgrim traffic between


 Surat 


and Mocha, still larger ships were used, from 1400


 to 1600 tons and able to carry 1700 passengers. 


[1618, 


Terry in Kerr's Voyages, IX. 391, 392. One reason for


 building such large ships was that they might put to





sea in the stormy months and avoid the Portuguese


 'The Gujaratis load their great ships of 900, 1200, 


and 


1,500 tons at. Gogha, and steal out unknown to the


 Portuguese.' These ships were called Monsoon 


Junks

The junk

For centuries the Chinese junk was the most seaworthy vessel of all nations. It was the only type of vessel that was constructed in watertight compartments and would still float if two of its compartments were flooded. In a time when ships sailed into uncharted seas this was a most useful design.

The original junks were square-rigged, which meant that they could not tack against the wind but had to follow the prevailing winds. In the Indian Ocean the Southwest Monsoon blows from June to October and the Northeast Monsoon from December to April, so the Chinese junks sailed westward to the trading ports of India, Arabia and Africa early in the year and returned to their home ports with their goods during the second half of the year.

When Cheng Ho took his fleet to continents far and wide his junks also followed the prevailing winds, but some of his junks (his "treasure ships") were much larger than the normal trading junks.

Chinese junks travelled long distances in later centuries as well. The illustration below shows the Keying, a Chinese junk that "according to the Boston Evening Transcript of 1847 [...] came to Boston ... and was moored at the Charles River Bridge on November 18 of that year. It was open for exhibition, and on Thanksgiving Day there were four to five thousand people who visited the junk. The December issue of the same paper reported that a Chinese of rank was on board that junk. He received visitors and showed them many curiosities from China. The gentleman must have been a merchant and there might have been other Chinese merchants on board as well. Keying sailed to other cities after its stop at Boston." (Chu, 1987).

Junks are still seen occasionally in Chinese waters. They are now rigged in a way to also allow a course close to the wind. The photo below shows a modern tourist junk in Hong Kong harbour.





(Kerr's Voyages, IX. 230). They are described as ill


-built like an overgrown lighter broad and short but 


exceeding big (Terry's Voyage, 130). The scantlings


 of the Rahimi of 1500 tons were length 153 feet, 


breadth 42 feet, depth 31 feet. Kerr's Voyages. VIII


 487. Part of the crew in these big vessels were


 often






 Dutch. Baldaeus in Churchill, III. 513.]

Goa was also a great ship-building place. In 1508 the


 Portuguese found that the carpenters and calkers of


 the king of Bijapur had built ships and galleys after 


the model of the Portuguese, [Com. of Alb. II. 32.]


 and 






in 1510 twelve very large ships were built after the


 model of the Flor de la Mar. [Com, of Alb. II, 87.]



The Lost Treasure of Flor de la Mar, Flower of the Sea | Ancient Origins
The Lost Treasure of Flor de la Mar ...
ancient-origins.net

According to Varthema (1500) the Kalikat boats


 were open and of three or four hundred butts i


n size.


 They were built without oakum, as the planks were


 joined with very great skill. They laid on pitch


 outside


 and used an immense quantity of iron nails. The


 sails were of cotton, and at the foot of each sail 


was a


 second sail which they spread to catch the wind.


 Their anchors were of stone fastened by two large


ropes. [Badger's Varthema, 152-154. Of these larger


 ships the flat-bottomed were called Sambuchis and 


those with keels Capels. Sambuchis seem to be


 Sambuks and Capels the same as Caravels, round


 lateen-


rigged boats of 200 tons. (Com. of Alb. I. 4). Of


 smaller boats there werepraus of ten paces, all of


 one 


piece with oars and a cane mast; almadias alsoall of




 one piece with a mast and oars; and katurs two-




prowed, thirteen paces long, and very narrow and


 swift. These katurswere used by piratea (Ditto). A few


 years later Barbosa (p. 147) describes the ships of


 the Moors of Kalikat, as of about 200 tons, with


but without nails, the planks sewn with mat cords

, well pitched, the timber very good. They were


 without

 decks, but had divisions for stowing the


merchandise separately.] One of these Kalikat


 vessels is 


mentioned of 140 tons, with fifty-two of a crew,


 twenty to bail out water and for other purposes


 below, 


eight for the helm, four for the top and yard 


business, and twenty boys to dress provisions


. [1612, 


Dounton in Kerr's Voyages, VIII. 425.]Very large


 boats are mentioned as trading to the Coromandel


 coast. 


[1500, Vasco da Gama's Three Voyages, 339. They


 carried more than 1000 measures of Pice of 105


 pecks each.]

Many foreign ships visited the Thana ports. In the

 beginning of the sixteenth century, Maskat was a

 great

 ship-building place. In 1510 Albuquerque found two

 very large ships ready to launch and a fleet of 

thirty-

four ships great and small. [Commentaries, I. 71, 81

, 82.] The establishment of Portuguese power in the



Persian Gulf seems to have depressed the local

 seamen, as in the beginning of the seventeenth

 century 

the Persian Gulf boats are described as from forty to

 sixty tons, the planks sewn with date fibre and the


tackle of date fibre. The anchor was the only bit of

 iron.[John Bldredin Kerr's Voyages, VIII. 6.] The

 Red

 Sea ships were larger and better built and were

 managed with great skill. [One is mentioned in

 1500 of 600

 tons and 300 fighting men and bands of music with

 seven elephants (Kerr's Voyages, II. 412); another

 in 

1502 had 700 men (Vasco da Gama's Three Voyages

, 315); another in the same year had 300 passengers 

(Kerr's Voyages, II. 435-436).] In the beginning of

 the sixteenth century large junks from Java and 

Malacca

 came to the Coromandel and Malabar coasts, and

 may occasionally have visited Chaul. [Stanley's

 Barbosa,



 193; Albuquerque's Commentaries, III. 63. So skilful

 were the Java boat-builders that Albuquerque




brought sixty of them to Goa, Ditto, III. 168.]

The greatest change in the shipping of this period


 was the introduction of the square-rigged 


Portuguese 


vessels. They caused much astonishment at Anjidiv;


 the people had never seen any ships like them. 


[1498,


 Kerr's Voyages, II. 388.

What astonished the people was the number of

 ropes and the number of sails; it was not the size of

 the 

ships. Vasco da Gama's Three Voyages, 145, 149.]


 The vessels in Vasco da Gama's first fleet (1497-

1500)


varied from two hundred to fifty tons. [The details


 were, the San Gabriel, the San Raphael, the Birrio, 

and 

a transport for provisions called a naveta (Lindsay's

 Merchant Shipping, II. 4). The size of these boats is


generally given at from 100 to 209 tons (Kerr's 

Voyages, II, 521). But Mr. Lindsay thinks they were

 larger 

between 250 and 300 tons register. The picture he

 gives shows the San Gabriel to have been a three-



masted vessel with a high narrow poop and a high


forecastle. The Gujarat batela and the Arab botel 

seem

 from their name (Port, batel a boat) and from the 

shape of their sterns to have been copied from 

Portuguese models. See Appendix A.] The size was

 soon increased to 600 and 700 tons [The 1502 fleet

 was













 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

















 

 


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