The Rise of Bombay

This work, reprinted from the 1901 Census of India Series in 1902, examines the growth of the great Indian port city, giving contemporary statistics as well as recounting its long history before and during British rule (the East India Company had begun trading there in the 1660s). The editor, Stephen Meredyth Edwardes (1873 1927), was a civil servant based in Bombay. Using sources from travellers' accounts to official documents, this work tells the story of Bombay, 'one of the most splendid of Imperial Cities', as Edwardes describes it. Starting in prehistoric times, he discusses the topography of the city, its prosperity through trade and its early rulers, before moving on to the significance of Hinduism and Islam, the arrival of the Portuguese and finally the establishment of British rule. Illustrated with maps and photographs, this work gives a vivid history of the development of one of India's most important cities.