BOMBAY-1850-MALABAR HILL -Photographer: Scott, Charles

Photograph looking at the eastern part of Malabar Hill, Bombay from 'Views in the island of Bombay' by Charles Scott,1850s. Malabar Hill, the highest point in Bombay, is where the Silhara Kings (r.810-1260) founded the original Walkeshwar Temple. The temple was destroyed by the Portuguese and rebuilt in 1715 by Rama Kamath. By 1860, the temple attracted many people and there were 10 to 20 other temples around it and 50 dharamshalas. Fairs were held near the temple.

Mountstuart Elphinstone built the first Bungalow in Malabar Hill during his governorship from 1818 to 1827. After this many more people built houses here and the area became a posh locality which it still remains.

 WILD ANIMALS INCLUDING TIGERS WERE REPORTED ON MALABAR HILL 1850

. Malabar Hill was named so in the early days of British rule as it housed a military battery to foil a fleet of pirates operating from Malabar who would lie in wait to attack commercial vessels.

. The Malabar-Cumbala Hills were tropical forests, which had a good population of wild animals like snakes, pythons, monkeys and the elusive tiger.