'Yeh hai Mumbai meri jaan': 30 vintage, black and white photos of Bombay from the last 100 years

1. 3:57

   Yeh Hai Bombay Meri Jaan - 

   Johnny Walker, Mohd Rafi, Geeta Dutt, CID Song

   Song from old classic movie C.I.D. (1956) starring Dev Anand, Shakila, Waheeda Rehman, Johnny Walker Director: Raj Khosla,

Rituparna Chatterjee,IBNLive.com
Apr 24, 2014 at 10:39am IST

To know Bombay is to love Bombay. If you've ever lived in one of the world's most populous cities, you know that Mumbai sneaks up on you when you least expect it to. This is a city of contrasts - housing one of the world's biggest slums in perfect harmony with palatial mansions of ultra-rich movie stars. This is a city that famously lets you be. The photos and illustrations from colonial times show a spacious, sprawling city with the wide arch of Marine Drive bearing a deserted look while trams plied on empty roads. A fascinating photo shows sex workers standing behind bars. These 30 vintage photos of Bombay will call you home.

Sculptures of Hindu deities in the Elephanta Caves on Elephanta Island, Bombay (now Mumbai) Harbour, circa 1890. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

A view over south Bombay (now Mumbai) from Cumbala Hill, circa 1890. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

A Hanuman temple on the Kalbadevi Road in Bombay (now Mumbai), circa 1890. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

A view of Rampart Row, Bombay (now Mumbai), with Watson's Hotel on the right, circa 1890. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Hornby Road in Bombay, circa 1930. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

A view of Victoria Station, Mumbai (Bombay), circa 1900. Built in 1888 to a design by Frederick William Stevens, it is now known as the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

A view of The Municipal Hall in Mumbai (Bombay), circa 1900. Designed by Frederick William Stevens, the building was completed in 1893. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

11th May 1931: L to R, P P Nazir and T H Dastur from Bombay are in the cockpit of a Moth 'Spirit of St Christopher' at Brooklands School of Flying. (Photo by A. Hudson/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

21st August 1947: Crowds in the streets of Bombay to see illuminations and fireworks to celebrate the handing over of power in India. (Photo by Central Press/Getty Images)

Circa 1955: A policeman from Guam on Marine Drive, checking a traffic list in front of his Public Works truck, provided by the US Navy Government. (Photo by Three Lions/Getty Images)

Circa 1955: A poster advertising the film 'Patat Pawan' on a street in Bombay. (Photo by Three Lions/Getty Images)

Circa 1955: A group of children having a ride on a camel in Bombay. (Photo by Three Lions/Getty Images)

Circa 1955: A man sleeping outside the Taj Mahal Hotel in Bombay. (Photo by Three Lions/Getty Images)

Circa 1970: Customers queue outside a dry food shop in Bombay, India. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)

Police charge demonstrators at the Esplanade Maidan in Bombay with lathis. The protest was organised by the National Congress Party. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)

1891: An illustration of Anglo-Indian life on the steps of a Bombay hotel. (Photo by HultonArchive/Illustrated London News/Getty Images)

Circa 1935: Borah Bazaar, Bombay, India. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

14th August 1939: Soldiers of the 2nd Battalion of Royal Ulster Rifles disembarking from a Bristol Bombay aircraft at RAF Yatesbury during one of the largest aerial troop-carrying movements in Britain. The men are bound for manoeuvres on Salisbury Plain. (Photo by Central Press/Getty Images)

16th May 1960: On May 17th, 1960, the performances of the famous Passion plays start again in Oberammergau. Each performance in which 1400 people of Oberammergau take part, lasts for seven hours. Sochiko Nozaki a music student of Tokyo (left) and Gauri Isvaran of Bombay who studies languages, attended the last rehearsal on May 15th. Here, policeman Rudolf Ludwig shows the two students the sights of Oberammergau. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)

August 1955: A fisherman, knee deep in water, casting his net just off the shore at the fishing colony of Arnala, about 40 miles from Bombay. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images)

1910: The Maduraroyal toll-gate at the 8th mile point on the Madras to Bombay trunk road. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

1947: The presentation of colours to the Bombay Home Guard, part of the celebrations of Indian Independence Day at Bombay. B G Kher, Bombay Premier, salutes the flag. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)

1930: A crowd of demonstrators in conflict with the police during elections at Bombay, India. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

1933: Indian cricketers Cottari Kanakaiya Nayudu, left (known as C K Nayudu, 1895 - 1967) and Nanik Amarnath Bharadwaj (known as Lala Bharadwaj 1911 - 2000) coming out to bat during the First Test Match against England in Bombay. (Photo by Central Press/Getty Images)

Circa 1915: Trams passing the grand facade of Victoria Railway Station in Bombay. (Photo by General Photographic Agency/Getty Images)

Circa 1912: A sea angling festival in progress on Marine Drive, Scarborough. (Photo by Alfred Hind Robinson/A H Robinson/Getty Images)

1st May 1963: A little girl balancing on a fellow beggar's hand on a street in Bombay. (Photo by Mike Geary/Fox Photos/Getty Images)

Circa 1930: A Bombay shopkeeper snatches a rest. (Photo by General Photographic Agency/Getty Images)

Sex workers kept behind bars in a red light district of Bombay. (Photo by General Photographic Agency/Getty Images)

Indian statesmen Mahatma Gandhi (Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, 1869 - 1948) and Jawaharlal Nehru (1869 - 1964) (left), known as Pandit Nehru, in conversation at the All-India Congress committee meeting at Bombay. (Photo by Central Press/Getty Images)