PREFACE VOLUME - I

I consider it my proud privilege and a matter of great delight to publish this volume of the veritable cyclopaedic Greater Bombay District Gazetteer, which is being brought out in three volumes in the revised edition of Gazetteers. Although a Gazetteer literally means only a geographical index or a geographical dictionary, the scope of this revised edition is much wider and deeper. It is well-nigh a monumental work, contain as it does the most authentic and exhaustive narration of several aspects of life in a historical perspective. It can truthfully be said that the major portion in the present volume has the impress of profound scholarship. I can also veritably say that the scholarly narration of the history of Modern Bombay furnished in the part on Modern Period (Chapter-2) is a valuable contribution to learning. Bombay has been a subject of interest of many research scholars from India and abroad. Many of them have conducted research on a few aspects of the history of Bombay. Many of those studies are really meritorious. But hardly any one of the historians has published a book covering the period from the dawn of the Gandhian Era, which is probably the Golden Era in the history of India. The portion on History—Modern Period in this volume has filled up this gap in the knowledge on Bombay by furnishing a connected account from the eighteen thirties to the dawn of Independence.

The Bombay Island, or rather the cluster of islands, is supposed to have been the 'Heptanesia' of the Greek cosmographer Ptolemy. It is a`City of Gold' of Gillian Tindall, but more truthfully it is a ' World City '. Bombay is originally a 'half-caste offspring of London', but most of it is a real Indian town with an oriental opulence. Bombay, the urb prima indis, contains not just many different social worlds but whole solar systems of different societies moving separately and intricately over the same territory. The city, through the last 300 years, attracted people of so many races and languages from different parts of India and abroad.

Bombay, the capital of Maharashtra but the commercial capital of India, accounts for over 40 per cent of India's maritime trade passing through its docks. It developed as a manufacturing city like Manchester, Bradford and London in the nineteenth century. But unlike these cities, the un­restricted growth of Bombay continues and continues. The population of London has been slightly falling for decades. But the population of Bombay has nearly quadrupled in the last about four decades, and the density, at over one lakh per square mile, is one of the highest in the world. Thousands come here for seeking means of livelihood, life itself in an escape from the near-static poverty of India's rural heartlands.

The physical history of Bombay is the history of what one commentator (in The Times) called in the nineteen thirties "the great epic of reclamation which has been in process for two-and-a-half centuries, and of which the end is not yet in sight ". Even today it is still merrily continuing. The seven original islands, the rocky skeleton of the one island into which they have been fused, accounted for well under half the present land surface. The city is further engulfing older villages and suburban settlements, driving back the palm trees, smothering the old pleasant bungalows with the fumes from chemical factories, scattering the shores of creeks with shanty-towns and polluting the entire environment with human existence at its poorest.

Although many believe that Bombay has no early history apart from the history of the surrounding region, the cluster  of seven islands was inhabited as early as the Stone Age. The antiquity of Kanheri, a great Buddhist centre with a rich cultural heritage, takes us to Bombay's rich past. The Aryans, the ancestors of the Maharattas, held sway in this part of India from the third to the thirteenth century, and power passed into the hands of Muslim invaders from Gujarat. The Muslim rule lasted from 1348 to 1534, after which Bahadur Shah, Sultan of Gujarat, ceded to the Portuguese the areas around Bassein and Bombay. By the marriage treaty between Charles II of Great Britain and Catherine Braganza of Portugal, the port and islands of Bombay were gifted to the British Crown, and they came into British possession in 1665. This was the first landmark in the history of this city.

The Modern Period in the history of Bombay may be said to have dawned in the eighteen thirties. Several momentous developments caused the emergence of a prosperous, modern and progressive city. The dawn of this most significant epoch was closely related to the rise of the intelligentsia and spread of Western education in the city. Establishment of the Bombay Association, and later, the Bombay Presidency Association gave birth to an upsurge in political and social awakening. The metamorphosis of the vibrantly progressive modern Bombay could undoubtedly be attributed to the collaborated efforts of the enlightened citizens, the intelli­gentsia and the dedicated Governors which Bombay was fortunate to have. Men of rare political sagacity and social reformers of great vision, like Jagannath Shankarshet, Bhau Daji Lad, Balshastri Jambhekar, John Wilson, Jamshetji Jijibhai, Dadabhai Naoroji, Cowasji Jehangir Readymoney, Naoroji Furdunji, Framji Cowasji, Mangaldas Nathubhai, Premchand Raichand, Goculdas Tejpal, Muhammad Ibrahim Mukba, Mahomed Ali Roghay, Mountstuart Elphinstone, Viscount Falkland, Lord Elphinstone, Bartle Frere, Alexander Grant and Erskine Perry, were the principal makers of Bombay. The next generation of great luminaries and leaders of Bombay comprised Pherozeshah Mehta, K. T. Telang, BadruddinTyabji,R. M. Sayani, V. N. Mandlik and Dinshaw Edulji Wacha.

The Bombay and Pune politicians provided a nucleus of national leadership right upto the emergence of Mahatma Gandhi. The embryo of nationalism developed from these cities. Bombay was rightly honoured by the first Congress session, and six sons of the city were elevated to the Congress Presidentship at eight Congress sessions. Gandhiji found in Bombay a congenial home for his satyagraha movements. It was here that he inaugurated his Non-Co-operation Move­ment, and offered a powerful form of peaceful resistance against the mighty power on Earth.

Bombay wrote patriotic poetry with its blood during the Civil Disobedience Movement. Her illustrious role in the salt satyagraha and boycott movement was a model for the rest of India. Bombay's enthusiasm was unique, and not bettered in any other part of India or at any other time, except perhaps in 1942-44. It is remarkable that throughout the Gandhian movement the Bombay industrialists were overwhelmingly in favour of economic nationalism, while the businessmen were quite consistently nationalists of the first order.

It was again Bombay which gave birth to "Quit India", and played its role as the nerve centre of the movement all over India. The very last British troops to leave India in 1947 marched through the Gateway of India to their ships home. They bade farewell from where they had entered. The British made history in Bombay. They gave her birth, nurtured her to bloom into a World City and left her when she no longer needed them.

The history of Bombay—Modern Period is based on exhaustive documentation work and the most authentic primary and reputed secondary sources. It was a proud privilege of the author of this portion to draw profusely from innumerable secret Government and Police files which are otherwise inaccessible to other historians. Needless to say that it involved an enormous task and perseverance, but it ensured a high standard of precision, reliability, objectivity and thoroughness.

The portions on geography, urban landscape, relief and morphology, customs, rituals and the account of the various castes and communities bear an impress of great scholarship. Stupendous efforts, involving laborious and time-consuming processes were needed for the production of this work which has necessarily to maintain a high standard. The history of the city during the Muhammadan, the Portuguese and the British Periods is based on the narrative furnished in Volume II of the celebrated Gazetteer of Bombay City and Island edited by S. M. Edwardes (1909). The obvious reason is that the worth of that scholarly work has not diminished by the mere passage of time.

The above paragraphs would give a fairly clear idea about the contents of the present volume. The subjects dealt with in this volume were included in Volume I and Volume II of the Gazetteer of Bombay City and Island(1909) edited by Mr. S. M. Edwardes, and the Thana District Gazetteer of 1882 edited by Mr. James M. Campbell. The present revised volume follows an entirely different scheme of treatment and emphasis, which is probably more systematic and objective than the corresponding old Gazetteers of 1909 and 1882. The history of freedom movement, covered in the portion on Modern Period, is totally a new addition.

The entire write-up of the present volume, except a few pages in Chapter 1, has been contributed by esteemed research scholars in the field, as mentioned below. They have perseveringly strived for attaining a high standard, although we are quite aware of the shortcomings and constraints imposed by circumstances.

The revised Greater Bombay District Gazetteer, as said earlier, is being published in three volumes which together would contain about 2,375 pages in 19 Chapters. Volume I (the present one) contains Chapters 1 to 3, Volume II contains Chapters 4 to 9, while Volume III covers Chapters 10 to 19. The chapter headings are given on the pattern prescribed by the Government of India. There are, however, immense and far-reaching deviations from the Central Pattern, both as regards the comprehensiveness and depth of treatment given to each subject. The deviations are inevitable due to the importance of Bombay as the nerve centre and the commercial capital of India, and her pre-eminence in the history of India's struggle for freedom. The Gazetteer of Bombay has to be worthy of this Great City. It has, therefore, been incumbent upon us to deviate from the scheme of the Government of India which envisaged publication of each District Gazetteer in a single volume. The entire write-up of about 2,375 pages would have been too bulky for a single volume, and hence its division into three handy volumes.

I must avail myself of this opportunity to state that a good deal of information pertaining to some of the subjects in this volume has been furnished more at length in Volume II and also in Volume III of this revised Gazetteer. A compre­hensive history of Industrialisation, Trade and Commerce, Communications, Economic Development and Agriculture is furnished in Volume II, while Volume III includes the account of public administration, education, public life, journalism, voluntary social service organisations, theatre, and archaeology and objects of interest in Bombay. The readers would certainly be benefited by referring to these sections in the respective volumes.

I owe a great debt of gratitude to the scholar contributors of the present volume, namely, Prof. B. Arunachalam (Geography), the late Dr. V. V. Mirashi (History—Ancient Period), Dr. B. G. Kunte (History—Mediaeval Period, Muhammadan Period, Portuguese Period and British Period), Shri K. K. Chaudhari, myself (History—Modern Period), and Shri T. V. Parvate(The People). This monumental work on Bombay would not have been possible but for their contributions.

My study of History—Modern Period would have been rather impossible for me if that copious documentation was not available in the Gazetteers Department, the Maharashtra State Archives, Bombay Police Commissioner's Office and the Asiatic Society Library. My foremost thanks are due to Dr. L. B. Keny for his generous academic advice and for undertaking the laborious task of scrutiny of my manuscript of History—Modern Period, which work was entrusted to him by the Government of Maharashtra due to the absence of the Maharashtra Gazetteers Editorial Board at that time. I also owe my gratitude to Shri B. N. Phatak, son of the illustrious Prof. N. R. Phatak, for his incidental help, generous advice and keen interest throughout my work.

Several scholars in Bombay have been generous to me with their advice and help. It may be tedious to mention their names here. But it is literally true that my work would have been difficult without the generosity of Prof. Anil C. Tikekar and Prof. P. G. Raje of the Library Department of the University of Bombay, Dr. P. M. Joshi, Shri D. B. Karnik, Prof. Jim Masselos and the late Dr. V. G. Hatalkar.

I also owe my thanks to the members of the former Maharashtra District Gazetteers Editorial Board for scrutiny of the first draft of some portion in this volume. These members comprised the following distinguished men:—

1. Additional Chief Secretary to the Government of Maharashtra (Chairman).
2. Shri P. Setu Madhav Rao.
3. Dr. V. B. Kolte.
4. Dr. C. D. Deshpande.
5. Dr. B. R. Rairikar.
6. Dr. (Smt.) Sarojini Babar.
7. Dr. V. T. Gune.
8. Dr. P. N. Chopra.
9. Executive Editor and Secretary (Dr. B. G. Kunte).

The present members of the Editorial Board, reconstituted while the volume was under printing, have very kindly encouraged me in this work. To all these men of distinction, mentioned below, I am highly indebted :—

1. Additional Chief Secretary to the Government of Maharashtra (Chairman).
2. Shri P. Setu Madhav Rao.
3. Dr. C. D. Deshpande.
4. Dr. U. M. Pathan.
5. Shri D. B. Karnik.
6. Prof. Y. S. Mahajan.
7. Dr. B. L. Bhole.
8. Shri S. G. Suradkar.
9. Dr. A. P. Jamkhedkar.
10. Dr. P. N. Chopra.
11. Executive Editor and Secretary.

I shall be failing in my duty if I do not express my gratitude to Dr. P. N. Chopra, former Editor, Gazetteers Unit, Ministry of Education, Government of India, New Delhi, who has always been my guide and friend, for his prized advice and scrutiny of a part of the write-up. The Government of India have kindly paid an ad hoc grant for the compilation and printing of the Greater Bombay Gazetteer.

Several Government Offices, the Bombay Municipal Corporation, various Government Undertakings, the Vice-Chancellors of the University of Bombay and the S.N.D.T. University, the Librarians of the University of Bombay Library, the Vidhan Bhavan Library and many other libraries, numerous organisations, and scores of enlightened citizens of Bombay, have readily and unhesitatingly helped me in this work. To all of them whose names cannot be mentioned here, my thanks are due. I must also thank Dr. A. P. Jamkhedkar, Director of Archaeology, and the Director General of Information and Public Relations, Maharashtra State, for providing photographs for the volume.
I am thankful to Shri R. B. Alva, Director of Government Printing and Stationery, Shri G. D. Dhond, Deputy Director and Shri P. S. More, Manager, Government Central Press, Bombay as also other officers, not only for the fine printing of this volume but also for patiently bearing with us while we made many additions to the matter even at the proof stage. My thanks are also due to Dr. V. N. Gurav, Deputy Editor, Sarvashri M. H. Ranade (Retd.), S. K. Khilare, P. N. Narkhede, B. M. Kausal (Research Officers) and Smt. M. S. Modikhane (Research Officer then), for their assistance in the work. I am also thankful to Smt. N. S. Alwani, Sarvashri N. R. Patil, K. Z. Raut, D. J. Nawadkar, V. B. Sangrulkar, R. R. Hanwatkar and V. J. Desai (Assistant Research Officers) for their assistance in the publication of this volume. I must also thank Shri P. S. Khobrekar, Administrative Officer and other members of the staff for their association with this work.

A separate select Bibliography for History—Modern Period has been added at the end of Chapter 2, while the Bibliography for the entire volume is furnished at the end of the Volume. An interesting addition to the Volume is a Note on Inscriptions furnished in the form of an Addendum.

I hope this cyclopaedic volume will be appreciated and found highly useful by all those historians, scholars and administrators who are interested not merely in the study of History, Geography and People and Their Culture in this colourful Great City of India, but also desiring to study the biography of Bombay.

Bombay :	K. K. CHAUDHARI
Balipratipada	Executive Editor and Secretary
3 November 1986

PREFACE VOLUME -II

It is with great delight that I am presenting this second volume of the veritable cyclopaedic Greater Bombay District Gazetteer, which is being brought out in three volumes in the revised edition of Gazetteers. It is a monu­mental work, contain as it does the most authentic and exhaustive narration of the Economy of Bombay in a historical perspective. It can verily be said that the major portion in the present volume has the impress of profound scholar­ship. I can also say that the scholarly narration of the history of industrial growth and economic development of Bombay furnished in this Volume is a valuable contribution to learning. Bombay has been a subject of interest of many research scholars from India and abroad. But hardly anyone of them has published any work on the industrial development at the micro-economic level. This volume has, probably, filled up this gap in the knowledge on Bombay by furnishing the history of industrial growth over a period of nearly 300 years.

Undoubtedly, Bombay is the commercial capital of India. More than 40 per cent of India's maritime trade passes through the Bombay Harbour. This city owed its initial development as a centre of trade partially to its quality as a natural harbour, and partially to the men of great enterprise. The mid-nineteenth century was a period of rapid economic advance. By this time, British sovereignty had been imposed on large areas of Western India, and communications by road and sea had greatly improved. The merchants of Bombay made great fortunes from the exports of cotton and opium. The railway heralded a new industrial age with the opening of the rail line from Bombay to Thane in 1853. The extension of railways up the Ghats, only ten years later, added to the growth potential of the city. More significant than this, the businessmen of Bombay began to turn from trade to manufacture and lay the foundations of the textile industry that made Bombay the Manchester of the East and one of the cotton capitals of the world. But most significant of all, the fortunes of Bombay were revolutionised by the Cotton Boom or Share Mania caused by the American Civil War of 1861-65. Enormous profits earned during the boom were invested in cotton mills, banking, reclamation and embellishment of the city. These forces gave birth to 'Modern' Bombay as a 'World City'.

The first factory in Bombay, the mint of the East India Company, opened in 1676, while the first cotton textile mill was opened in 1854. Others followed soon afterwards, encouraged by the industry's early success; and in 1875 there were 27 mills. Expansion continued until the turn of the century. The Bombay Port Trust was started in 1873, while the Bombay Chamber of Commerce, established in 1836, gave impetus to the growth of industry and commerce. The Chapter on “Industries” in this revised Volume throws a searchlight on the History of Industrial Develop­ment during a period of 300 years. This is by itself an un­paralleled work. The Sassoons, Petits, Khataus, Morarji Goculdas, Wadias, Tata, Currimboy, Godrej and Thackersey families emerged as enterprising promoters. In the course of time Bombay's cotton business exceeded that even in Liverpool. Bombay developed as a manufacturing city like London, Manchester, Bradford, Liverpool, Birmingham, Leeds, Halifax and Southampton. London and Manchester were the models for Bombay. But today the chimneys of London and Manchester are going or have already gone, and many mills stand empty and destroyed. Bombay, how­ever, continues and continues to grow organically. The mills and factories in Bombay work on round the clock. Multitudes from India's heartlands come here for seeking employment, money and life itself. To them all, it is a city of gold. But truthfully, prosperity and squalor seem to increase in direct proportion to one another in this city.

The above paragraphs would give a fairly clear idea about the contents of the present volume. The subjects dealt with in this volume were included in Volume I, Volume II and Volume III of the Gazetteer of Bombay City and Island (1909-1910) edited by Mr. S. M. Edwardes, and the Thana District Gazetteer of 1882, edited by Mr. James M. Campbell. The present revised volume follows an entirely different scheme of treatment and emphasis, which is probably more systematic and objective than the above corresponding old Gazetteers. Mr. Edwardes' Gazetteer of Bombay City and Island dealt with these subjects under such headings as, The Harbour, Capital, Communications and Trade (Volume I), Land Administration, Revenue and Finance (Volume II), and Markets, City Improvement Trust, etc. (Volume III). All these subjects and many more have been presented, in this revised edition, under appro­priate chapter headings. The information regarding South Salsette, which now constitutes Bombay Suburbs, has been culled from the Thana District Gazetteer of Mr. Campbell. The present Volume contains six chapters, viz., 4 to 9. The chapter headings are given on the pattern prescribed by the Government of India. There are, however, immense and far-reaching deviations from the Central Pattern, both as regards the comprehensiveness and depth of treatment given to each subject. The deviations are inevitable due to the importance of Bombay as the industrial nerve centre and the commercial capital of India. The Gazetteer of Bombay has to be worthy of this Great City. It has, there­fore, been incumbent upon us to deviate from the scheme of the Government of India which envisaged publication of each District Gazetteer in a single volume.

I must avail myself of this opportunity to state that a good deal of information pertaining to some of the subjects, in this volume has been furnished more at length in Volume I of this revised Gazetteer. A comprehensive history of the industrialists and businessmen, and their role in the nationalist movement as well as in the making of this city has been given in History—Modern Period in Volume I. The readers would certainly be benefited by referring to Volume I.

Enormous efforts, involving laborious and time-consu­ming processes from the commencement to completion, were needed for the production of this work which has necessarily to maintain a high standard of precision, relia­bility, objectivity and thoroughness. We have perseveringly strived for achieving such a standard, although we are aware of our shortcomings. No effort has been spared to incorpo­rate as up-to-date information as possible. However, in a monumental work like this a time-lag between the date of collection of information and its publication is inevitable.
The first draft of some chapters was prepared during the tenure of my painstaking predecessor, Dr. B. G. Kunte. I owe my sincere thanks to him. That write-up has been thoroughly revised, voluminous additions have been made and two chapters were newly written. Naturally this was a stupendous task.

I owe a great debt of gratitude to the scholar contributors of the present volume, namely, Dr. B. R. Rairikar and Shri K. K. Chaudhari (myself). This monumental work on Bombay would not have been possible but for their contributions.

I also owe my thanks to the members of the former Maharashtra District Gazetteers Editorial Board for scrutiny of the first draft of some portion in this volume. These members comprised the following distinguished men:—

1. Additional Chief Secretary to the Government of Maharashtra (Chairman).
2. Shri P. Setu Madhav Rao.
3. Dr. V. B. Kolte.
4. Dr. C. D. Deshpande.
5. Dr. B. R. Rairikar.
6. Dr. (Smt.) Sarojini Babar.
7. Dr.V.T. Gune.
8. Dr. P. N. Chopra.
9. Executive Editor and Secretary (Dr. B. G. Kunte).

The present members of the Editorial Board, reconstituted while the volume was under printing, have very kindly encouraged me in this work. To all these men of distinction, mentioned below, I am highly indebted:—

1. Additional Chief Secretary to the Government of Maharashtra (Chairman),
2. Shri P. Setu Madhav Rao.
3. Dr. C. D. Deshpande.
4. Dr. U. M. Pathan.
5. Shri D. B. Karnik.
6. Prof. Y. S. Mahajan.
7. Dr. B. L. Bhole.
8. Shri S. G. Suradkar.
9. Dr. A. P. Jamkhedkar.
10. Dr. P. N. Chopra.
11. Executive Editor and Secretary.

I shall be failing in my duty if I do not express my gratitude to Dr. P. N- Chopra, former Editor, Gazetteers Unit, Ministry of Education, Government of India, New Delhi, who has always been my friend, for his prized advice and scrutiny of a part of the write-up. The Government of India have kindly paid an ad hoc grant for the compilation and printing of the Greater Bombay Gazetteer.

Several Government Offices, particularly the Director of Economics and Statistics, and the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, the Bombay Municipal Corporation, various Government Undertakings, the Librarians of the University of Bombay Library, the Vidhan Bhavan Library and many other libraries, the Bombay Chamber of Com­merce, the Indian Merchants' Chamber, the Maharashtra Chamber of Commerce and all other Chambers of Commerce, as well as the Bombay Millowners' Association and the Associations of various industries and trade, and numerous other organisations, and scores of enlightened citizens of Bombay, have readily and unhesitatingly helped me in this work. To all of them, whose names cannot be mentioned here, my thanks are due. I must also thank Dr. A. P. Jamkhedkar, Director of Archaeology, Maharashtra State, for providing photographs for the volume.
I am thankful to Shri R. B. Alva, Director of Government Printing and Stationery; Shri G. D. Dhond, Deputy Director; Shri P. S. More, Manager; and Shri A. C. Sayyad, Deputy Manager and Shri A. K. Rao, Assistant Manager, Govern­ment Central Press, Bombay, as also other officers, not only for the fine printing of this volume but also for patiently bearing with us while we made many additions to the matter even at the proof stage. My thanks are also due to Dr. V. N. Gurav, Deputy Editor, Sarvashri M. H. Ranade (Retd.), S. K. Khilare, P. N. Narkhede, B. M. Kausal (Research Officers) and Smt. M. S. Modikhane (Research Officer then), for their assistance in the work. I am also thankful to Smt. N. S. Alwani, Sarvashri N. R. Patil, K. Z Raut, D. J. Nawadkar, V. B. Sangrulkar, R. R. Hanwatkar, and V. J. Desai (Assistant Research Officers) for their assistance in the publication of this volume. I must also thank Shri P. S. Khobrekar, Administrative Officer and other members of the staff for their association with this work.

I hope this cyclopaedic Volume will be appreciated and found highly useful by all those historians, scholars and administrators who are interested not merely in the study of the Economy and History of this colourful Great City of I&dia, but also desiring to study the biography of Bombay.

Bombay :	K. K. CHAUDHARI
1 January 1987	Executive Editor and Secretary

PREFACE VOLUME III

 

It is with great delight that I present this third volume of the veritable cyclopaedic Greater Bombay District Gazetteer, which is brought out in three volumes in the series of revised Gazetteers. The present volume deals with such diverse subjects as public administration, public life, journalism, voluntary social service organisations, theatre, archaeology and objects of interest in this urbs prima in indis. This volume, like the previous two, follows an entirely different scheme of treatment, which is probably more systematic and precise than the corresponding volumes of the Gazetteer of Bombay City and Island, published in 1909 and 1910.

The subjects dealt with in the present volume were included in Volumes II and III of the Gazetteer of Bombay City and Island edited by Mr. S. M. Edwardes, and the Thana District Gazetteer of 1882 edited by Mr. James M. Campbell. There were, besides others, six chapters in the two volumes edited by Mr. Edwardes on such topics as, Justice and Protection; Revenue and Finance; the Bombay Municipality, Port Trust, and Improvement Trust; Education; Health; and Places and Objects of Interest. All these subjects and many more have now been presented under appropriate chapter headings. The account regarding South Salsette, which now constitutes Bombay Suburbs, has also been culled from the Thana District Gazetteer of Mr. Campbell. This revised volume contains ten chapters covering diverse topics, the most important addition being the exhaustive account of Public Life, Voluntary Social Service Organisations, Journalism and ' Theatre ' in this cosmopolitan metropolis. The chapter headings are given on the pattern prescribed by the Government of India. There are, however, immense deviations from the Central Pattern, both as regards the comprehensiveness and depth of treat­ment given to each subject. The deviation is inevitable not merely because Bombay City is the capital of Maharashtra State and the commercial metropolis of India, but also due to the fact that she is the Gateway to India, and an Indian City with a Western facade.

The Gazetteer of Greater Bombay has to be worthy of this Great City of India. It has, therefore, been incumbent upon us to deviate from the scheme of the Government of India which envisaged publication of each District Gazetteer in a single volume. The entire write-up would have been too bulky for a single volume and there was no alternative but to divide it into three handy volumes, as we have done.

I must avail myself of this opportunity to state that a good deal of information pertaining to some of the subjects in this volume has been furnished more at length and depth in Volume I and also in Volume II of this revised Gazetteer. The comprehensive history of modern Bombay furnished in " History—Modern Period " in Volume I includes detailed accounts on several topics covered in Volume III. For instance, exceedingly thorough accounts of Educational Awakening, Political Consciousness, University Education. Public Life, Growth of Municipal Government, Civic Politics, Bombay City Improvement Trust, Judiciary, Journalism, Medical Services, Bombay's Relics and Archaeology, to mention only a few, have been presented in a historical perspective in " History—-Modern Period " in Chapter 2. Some particulars about objects of interest and institutions with a historical role can also be found in the same. The readers would certainly be benefited by refering to these portions which have the impress of profound^ scholarship and learning.

There are certainly portions in the old Gazetteers of Bombay City and Thane District the worth of which has not diminished by the mere passage of time. Although some of them have been reproduced without hesitation, every attempt has been made to avoid repetition in this revised edition because the previous editions of three volumes of the Gazetteer of Bombay City and Island and that of the Thana Gazetteer—Part I, have been made available by this Department in the form of Reprints in 1977, 1978 and 1984.

Enormous efforts, involving laborious and time-consum­ing processes from the commencement to completion, were needed for the production of this work which has necessarily to maintain a high standard of precision, reliability, objecti­vity and thoroughness. We have perseveringly strived for achieving such a standard, although we are aware of our shortcomings. No effort has been spared to incorporate as up-to-date information as possible. However, in a monu­mental work like this a time-lag between the date of collec­tion of information and its publication is inevitable.

The first draft of many chapters was prepared during the tenure of my predecessor, Dr. B. G. Kunte, who has contributed to many Gazetteers. I owe my sincere thanks to him. That write-up has been thoroughly revised, volumi­nous additions have been made and the material has been updated. Naturally this was a stupendous and time-consuming task.

I owe my gratitude to the members of the former Maharashtra District Gazetteers Editorial Board for scru­tiny of the first draft and useful suggestions. These members comprised the following distinguished men of erudition :

1. Additional Chief Secretary to the Government of Maharashtra (Chairman).
2. Shri P. Setu Madhav Rao.
3. Dr. V. B. Kolte.
4. Dr. C. D. Deshpande.
5. Dr. B. R. Rairikar.
6. Dr. (Smt.) Sarojini Babar.
7. Dr. V. T. Gune.
8. Dr. P. N. Chopra.
9. Executive Editor and Secretary.

The present members of the Editorial Board, reconstituted while the volume was under printing, have very kindly and generously encouraged me in this work. To all these men of distinction, mentioned below, I am highly indebted:

1. Additional Chief Secretary to the Government of Maharashtra (Chairman).
2. Shri P. Setu Madhav Rao.
3. Dr. C. D. Deshpande.
4. Dr. U. M. Pathan.
5. Shri D. B. Karnik.
6. Prof. Y. S. Mahajan.
7. Dr. B. L. Bhole.
8. Shri S. G. Suradkar.
9. Dr. A. P. Jamkhedkar
10. Dr. P. N. Chopra.
11. Executive Editor and Secretary.

I shall be failing in my duty if I do not express my gratitude to Dr. P. N. Chopra, Editor, Gazetteers Unit, Ministry of Education, Government of India, New Delhi, who has always been my guide and friend, for his prized advice and scrutiny of the write-up. The Government of India have kindly paid an ad hoc grant for the compilation and printing of the Greater Bombay Gazetteer.

Several Government Offices, the Bombay Municipal Corporation authorities, various Government Undertakings, the Vice-Chancellors of the University of Bombay and the S. N. D. T. University, the Librarians of the University of Bombay Library, the Vidhan Bhavan Library and many other libraries, numerous public trusts and organisations, and scores of enlightened citizens of Bombay, have readily and unhesitatingly helped me in the writing-up of this volume. To all of them, whose names cannot be mentioned here, my gratitude is due. I must also thank Dr. A. P. Jamkhedkar, Director of Archaeology, Maharashtra State, for providing photographs for the volume.

I am thankful to Shri R. B. Alva Director of Government Printing and Stationery, Shri G. D. Dhond, Deputy Director, and Shri P. S. More, Manager, Government Central Press, Bombay, as also other officers, not only for fine printing of this volume but also for patiently bearing with us while we made many additions to the matter even at the proof stage. My thanks are also due to Dr. V. N. Gurav, Deputv Editor; Shri M. H. Ranade (Retd.), Shri S. K. Khilare, Shri P. N. Narkhede, Shri B. M. Kausal (Research Officers) and Smt. M. S. Modikhane (Research Officer then), for their valuable assistance throughout the work. I am also thankful to Smt. N. S. Alwani, Sarvashri N. R. Patil, K. Z. Raut, D. J. Nawadkar, V. B. Sangrulkar, R. R. Hanwatkar and V. J. Desai (Assistant Research Officers) for their assis­tance in the publication of this volume. I must also thank Shri P. S. Khobarekar, Administrative Officer and other members of the staff for their association with this work.

I hope this cyclopaedic volume will be appreciated and found highly useful to all those scholars and administrators who are interested in the study of public administration, public life, journalism and objects of interest in this colourful Great City of India.

Bombay :	K. K. CHAUDHARI
1986	Executive Editor and Secretary