Urbanization and Urbanism

Asst. prof – Dr. Shivangi

 Bombay
• Bombay (now officially known as Mumbai) was, like several coastal towns of the
Indian subcontinent that developed into major urban centres during the modern
period, a product of colonial intervention in the Indian Ocean. From its early
importance as a port city, it became, by the late 19th century a major centre of
industrial production, and soon after, the financial capital of India. Indeed it was to
become the most important metropolis in the subcontinent, in colonial and post
colonial periods as well – as it became the centre of the new film industry.
• The origin
• Not long after the Portuguese occupied Goa in 1510, they expanded their influence to
**Bassein** near Surat in the early 1530s. South of Bassein lay several small islands in
the Arabian Sea, later collectively known as **Bombay**. These islands remained
under Portuguese control until the mid-17th century, when they were ceded to the
English crown in 1665.
• The **English East India Company**, a relatively minor European trading company in
India at the time, acquired these islands from the crown in 1668 for a nominal annual
rent of ten pounds and a loan of fifty thousand pounds to the government. This
transfer marked the beginning of Company control over the **Bombay islands**.
• Bombay was obtained by Britain from the Portuguese in 1665 as an archipelago of
seven islands. It was handed to the East India Company the following year, though it
was to remain largely undeveloped for almost a century.
• Bombay originally consisted of seven islands: Colaba, Old Woman’s Island (Little
Colaba), Mazagaon, Worli, Mahim, Parel, and the large, H-shaped Bombay island
(referred to by the Portuguese as Bombaim or Bom Bahia).
• Over the next 250 years, these islands were gradually transformed through land
reclamation, merging into the unified urban area known as Bombay. The primary
Bombay island stretched from Malabar Hill to the Fort, forming the core of this
developing urban landscape.
• It was only in the late 18th century that its value as a port was recognized, leading
to extensive reclamations in addition to the initiation of infrastructure provision.
The cotton and opium trade of the early 19th century undoubtedly gave the most
important boost to the city's growth.
 Growth of Bombay under British Rule
• The Portuguese and later the English valued Bombay largely due to its strategic
proximity to Surat, a major port and the heart of Mughal India’s trade. When
the islands passed into the hands of the English East India Company in 1668,
Bombay was placed under the deputy governor, subordinate to the Company’s
Surat factory. Although Bombay eventually became the Company’s western
headquarters, Surat continued to dominate trade on the west coast well into
the 18th century. Bombay was, in fact, viewed as undesirable; Lord Cornwallis,
in 1788, even proposed reducing the Company’s presence there due to its
reputation as unhealthy, impoverished, and insignificant (Spear, 1963).
• Ironically, it was around this time that Bombay began to grow as an export
center, mainly for raw cotton shipments to China, which funded the Company’s
tea imports for Britain. This export surge, noted by historian Pamela Nightingale
to have started in 1784, sparked Bombay’s transformation from a small
settlement to a key urban center.
• The entire stretch from north to south, enclosed by Mahim–Worli–Malabar
Hill in the west and Sion–Parel–Mazagaon–Dongri in the east was a huge
swamp. There were some salt pans between Sion and Sewri. (see Map) In
the initial phase ofits colonial history, very few Europeans resided in
Bombay.
• In the Portuguese era, the seven islands of Bombay were governed from
Mahim. The island group was one of the various administrative units of the
Portuguese territory of Bassein. Mahim, with its fort and customhouse, had
been the head or caçaba (from qasba or small town, in this context the
equivalent of a tahsil headquarters) of the administrative unit.
• The islands were rented or leased for varying durations to Portuguese
individuals, who then collected revenues from the villages. At the beginning
of the nineteenth century Mahim was still the most densely populated part
of north Bombay.
• The East India Company began to shape Bombay’s infrastructure, constructing
Bombay Castle—a combined office, storage, and governor’s residence—on
land previously held by Portuguese physician Garcia d’Orta in the southeastern
part of the island.
• By the mid-18th century, a wall was built around the area, forming what
became known as the Fort, which marked the core of British Bombay. An
indigenous area called the Native Town developed beyond the Fort, including
localities like Girgaum and Dongri.
• Bombay’s harbor on the eastern shore gave it a strategic maritime advantage.
Docks and shipyards emerged nearby, and land reclamation began in the
central swamp belt near Byculla, Parel, Worli, Dadar, and Matunga, which
became densely populated industrial areas over time.
• Mahim Creek defined Bombay’s northern boundary, and the early
19th-century construction of a causeway connecting Mahim to Bandra
marked the beginning of Bombay’s integration with Salsette Island. This
linkage expanded Bombay’s reach to areas now part of Mumbai, including
Bandra, Khar, Santa Cruz, Vile Parle, Juhu, and Kurla.
• Thus, Bombay’s growth from a neglected colonial outpost to a flourishing
urban center was driven by its strategic location for trade, the development of
port facilities, and the gradual integration of its islands into a unified city.
 Bombay’s geographical location
• Bombay's early development as a commercial hub was hindered significantly
by its geographic isolation from the eastern and central regions of India. The
Sahyadri Mountains, separating the coast from the Deccan plateau, created a
natural barrier that limited access to the city from the interior, and it remained
somewhat detached from the main commercial routes well into the 19th
century. Unlike Calcutta, which was advantageously located along the Ganges
with access to a network of rivers and fertile plains, Bombay lacked comparable
infrastructure.
• The landscape around Bombay, devoid of navigable rivers and established road
networks, limited overland connections. This geographic challenge became a
focal point of discussion during the mid-19th-century planning for a railway
network intended to connect western and central India, with Bombay as a
central hub.
• Up until the 18th century, the primary overland trade routes between
northern and central India and the Arabian Sea largely bypassed Bombay,
favoring areas to its north such as Cambay, Bharuch, and particularly Surat.
These northern centers, well-connected to major inland cities like Agra,
Ahmedabad, and Ujjain, served as the principal hubs for overland trade, with
Bombay acting only as a minor coastal outpost.
• Consequently, Bombay's development into a major port city required
substantial British investment and infrastructure improvements, such as the
eventual railway network, which facilitated its connection to the interior
regions despite these initial obstacles.
• The Mughal decline and growing instability in Safavid and Ottoman territories
disrupted established trade links, especially those critical for Surat's access to
West Asia. This disruption contributed to a crisis in the larger trade network of
northwestern India, severing Surat’s overland links to inland centers like Agra
and Banaras. With Surat’s position destabilized, the British looked toward
Bombay as a potential commercial replacement, but the transformation of
Bombay into a major urban center was slow, requiring not only time but also
a significant restructuring of the existing trade routes and the establishment
of new ones.
• Thus, while Surat’s decline set the stage for Bombay’s eventual rise, the
process was neither immediate nor straightforward. Bombay’s peripheral
position, coupled with western India’s trade crisis, meant that it would need a
new set of conditions and substantial infrastructural development to realize
its potential as a leading commercial center.
• Bombay was only a getting-off point for coastal trade and not a destination
for overland routes. The insularity of Bombay was completed by (a) the fact
that it was an island that was not adequately integrated with the mainland,
and (b) possession by the Marathas, till the 1770s, of Bombay's large
northern neighbour, Salsette.
• Bombay was dependent on sea-borne trade even for its basic necessities.
This contributed to enhancing the extrovert character of Bombay's economy
from the time of British occupation. When Bombay came into the company's
possession only a small portion of the island was in a state of cultivation.
• During the first half of the 18th century, the focus of English commercial activities
in India shifted eastward, favoring Madras and, later, Calcutta over western ports
like Bombay and Surat.
• By the 1740s, Bengal’s trade with Europe was expanding, with key exports
including textiles, raw silk, and saltpetre. At the same time, Bombay and Surat
experienced a decline in their European trade, particularly due to a drop in
demand for indigo — once a staple of the East India Company’s import list.
• Surat's dominance as a trade hub on India’s western coast throughout the 17th
and early 18th centuries initially prevented Bombay from rising as a major
center, even though the British acquired it in the mid-17th century. Bombay’s
delayed growth as an urban center was due not only to the competition with
Surat but also to broader shifts affecting western India's trade landscape.
• Ashin Das Gupta’s analysis suggests that Surat’s decline was less about isolated
local events, such as the silting of the Tapti River or attacks by Shivaji, and more
about the simultaneous weakening of three significant empires — the Mughals,
Safavids, and Ottomans — which had previously facilitated and stabilized trade
across the region.
• This eastward pivot led to the gradual neglect of trade routes between India’s
east and west coasts, compounded by European commercial expansion in
Asia, especially in trade with China. Holden Furber has linked this shift to a
“commercial revolution,” marking a period where European powers’
conquests spurred significant trade growth between India and China, setting
the stage for Bombay’s later prominence.
• A crucial factor in Bombay’s delayed rise, however, lies in the timing of these
shifts. While Furber identified an almost simultaneous decline in western
Indian trade and a surge in eastern trade by the 1740s, P.J. Marshall contends
that Bengal’s eastward trade didn’t fully compensate for this decline until the
1770s, leaving a “thirty barren years” gap.
 Economic transformation - Cotton and Opium
Trade
• Critical Period After 1784: As suggested by Pamela Nightingale, the post-1784 period
was crucial for Bombay’s growth due to the rise in raw cotton exports to China.
Pamela Nightingale suggests 1784 as a pivotal year for Bombay's economic 'take-off'.
• The Cotton-Tea Exchange: Raw cotton was a key commodity for trading with China,
where it was used to balance the British East India Company’s purchase of Chinese
tea. However, cotton alone could not keep pace with the growing demand for tea.
• This was primarily due to increased exports of raw cotton to China, which funded the
English East India Company's tea imports. By 1824-33, cotton exports had more than
tripled from the 1780s. The demand for cotton was primarily driven by its use in
China, where it served to offset the cost of British tea imports.
• The Commutation Act of 1784 lowered tea duties, boosting the British trade with
China.
• Role of Cotton in Bombay-China Trade: Cotton exports to China grew but couldn't
fully support the increasing tea imports. A solution emerged with opium exports.
• The Opium Miracle: In the 1820s, the opium trade surged, particularly from eastern
and western India. This marked the beginning of Bombay’s economic take-off as
opium became the primary commodity to trade in exchange for tea.
• Opium Trade Statistics: Between 1824 and 1833, the value of opium imported into
Canton from British-controlled India outpaced cotton exports and tea imports,
signaling Bombay's rising importance as a trade hub.
• Unlike in eastern India, where the East India Company could rely on resources from
conquered Bengal territories to finance trade, the Company lacked direct control in
western India.
• To overcome this challenge, they formed what historian Lakshmi Subramanian calls
the ‘Anglo–Bania alliance’, a network involving local financiers and merchants,
including Gujarati sarrafs (moneylenders) and Indo-Portuguese traders like Miguel de
Lima e Souza. This collaboration allowed the Company to secure the credit necessary
to fund cotton purchases, laying the foundation for Bombay's commercial
significance.
• In addition to cotton, opium trade emerged as a crucial factor for Bombay’s economic
development. The East India Company established a monopoly over opium
production in Bihar and other parts of eastern India, and by 1797, strictly regulated
its cultivation and export.
• Though illegal in China, opium demand remained high, prompting British and private
traders to smuggle the drug into Chinese markets.
• Around 1800, Malwa opium, produced in western India, began competing with the
Company’s opium monopoly in Bengal. Initially, the Company restricted Malwa
opium exports through Bombay but, by 1831, allowed private traders to export it on
payment of a duty.
• This policy change fueled Bombay's growth as a hub for the opium trade to China,
especially after 1833 when the Company’s monopoly on Chinese trade ended.
Bombay merchants collaborated with British firms like Jardine Matheson, shipping
large quantities of opium to China and setting the stage for the First Opium War
(1839-42).
• Bombay’s opium trade was intertwined with its shipping industry.
• Many leading opium merchants owned ships, while prominent shipowners had
investments in opium. Influential traders like Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy, Motichund
Amichund, and Nagardass Hirji Mody managed fleets for opium transport.
• Bombay’s shipbuilding tradition, especially the Parsi Wadia family’s shipyards,
played a vital role in constructing vessels that transported opium to China.
• Thus, through cotton and opium, Bombay evolved into a major colonial center with
strong financial, commercial, and shipping sectors, setting the stage for its
transformation into a bustling metropolis.
• Bombay had a long-standing tradition of shipbuilding, with two key
dockyards—one in Bombay Harbour and the other in Mazagaon.
• The Wadia family, particularly influential in the Parsi community, played a
crucial role in laying the foundations of shipbuilding in Bombay in the early
18th century.
• Bombay’s commercial world was characterized by the presence of a wide
array of business communities, including: Indo-Portuguese Parsis Konkani
Muslims Marwaris Gujarati Banias Bohras Armenians. This diversity gave the
city a cosmopolitan character, contributing to its economic dynamism.
• Spatial Distribution in the Fort Area: The Fort area of Bombay was divided
into sections:The southern portion was inhabited by Europeans.
• The northern end was primarily occupied by Indians, which reflected the
strength of indigenous elites in Bombay.
• Population Growth: By the second decade of the 19th century, Bombay’s population
exceeded two lakh (200,000) inhabitants. The city saw rapid population growth
between 1826 and 1849, with an annual growth rate of 5.5%.
• By 1849, the population reached 5,66,119.
• By 1864, it had risen to over 8,00,000.
• Migrant Workforce: A significant portion of the population were temporary
migrants, particularly from western Maharashtra, Konkan, and Gujarat. These single
male workers came to Bombay to earn and save money before returning to their
rural villages.
• The migrant workforce was involved in various industries, such as shipbuilding, the
cotton export sector, and manual labor in shipyards and docks.
• Economic Challenges and Migration
• Distress Among Peasants: The land settlement experiments of the 1820s and 1830s
caused distress among peasants in rural areas, leading many to seek employment in
Bombay. This migration was largely driven by the hope of better income
opportunities and the ability to invest in land.
• Impact of Land Settlement Experiments:
• The land settlement experiments carried out in the 1820s and 1830s under
British colonial policies, including the Ryotwari system, caused severe
distress among peasants. The increased land taxes and inadequate support
for agricultural productivity led to the displacement of many rural
inhabitants, driving them towards Bombay in search of work.
• These peasants, many of whom were landowners or small farmers, came to
the city with the hope of earning enough to reinvest in land back home or
improve their economic conditions.
• Strengthened Rural-Urban Links: Despite migrating to the urban center,
these workers maintained strong ties to their rural origins, often sending
remittances back to their families. This created a link between Bombay and
the rural economy of western India, which had significant cultural, economic,
and social implications for both regions.
 A CITY TRANSFORMED: EARLY INDUSTRIAL BOMBAY

• Railway Expansion and Cotton Trade

• The introduction of railways became a crucial factor in the growth of Bombay as an
industrial hub. In the 1850s, when the proposal for the Great Indian Peninsular
Railway was considered, the idea of speeding up the transportation of opium to
Bombay was initially the main consideration. However, by the early 1850s, the
transportation of raw cotton became the priority, particularly in response to the
cotton famine in Lancashire caused by the American Civil War (1861-65), which
disrupted the supply of cotton from the southern United States. This led to a
dramatic increase in Britain’s dependence on Indian cotton.
• The first major railway line, Bombay to Thane, was opened in 1853, and this
development laid the foundation for the expansion of Bombay’s railway network,
eventually connecting key locations like Parel, which later became a significant hub
for the cotton textile industry. The development of the railway system, especially the
Victoria Terminus (now Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus), built between 1878 and 1888,
helped link mill workers' residential areas with the factories, further cementing
Bombay's industrial identity.
• Rise of Indian Capitalists
• The cotton boom fostered a new breed of Indian entrepreneurs,
particularly financial operators like Premchand Roychand, who
invested the wealth earned from cotton speculation into grand public
buildings in Bombay, such as the Rajabai Clock Tower at the University
of Bombay.
• Despite the eventual end of the boom in 1865, which led to a financial
crash, Indian capitalists had established a robust financial
infrastructure in Bombay. They controlled the cotton trade, had
substantial land holdings, and managed financial institutions like the
Bank of Bombay and the Bank of Western India. This participation in
Bombay’s financial institutions marked a significant shift, as Indians
were no longer entirely excluded from the city’s financial
infrastructure, which had largely been dominated by Europeans in the
earlier part of the century
• Industrialization and Urban Growth
• In the mid-1850s, Indian capitalists also played a crucial role in the
establishment of Bombay's first cotton textile mills. The first mill, set up by
Cowasjee Nanabhoy Davar in 1854, was entirely owned by Indians, and
within half a century, the city boasted over a hundred mills, most of which
were financed by indigenous capital. This marked the rise of Bombay as an
industrial center.
• The growth of the textile industry coincided with the draining of marshlands
in central Bombay, which led to the development of areas like Girangaon
(the mill village), a distinctive working-class area that housed the mill
workers. The establishment of the cotton mills significantly influenced the
social and political landscape of Bombay, as the working-class ethos of
Girangaon began to shape the city’s industrial character.
• Technological and Infrastructure Developments
• The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 further boosted Bombay’s position
as a key port for trade between Europe and India, particularly as steam
navigation replaced traditional sailing ships. This period also saw the
expansion of the dockyards, especially at Mazagaon, which led to the
development of areas where dockworkers and mill workers resided.
 Rise of the Working class
• Housing Crisis and the Chāl System
• As Bombay's textile mills flourished, workers flocked to the city, but housing
became a pressing issue. The colonial state and Indian elites viewed urban
development as a means of confining the working class into poorly constructed,
overcrowded spaces, with minimal resources and infrastructure. By the 1860s,
this resulted in the creation of chāls (multi-storeyed residential compounds),
where workers lived in extremely congested conditions. These structures often
lacked sanitation and were unsanitary, with shared latrines and overcrowded
rooms.
• The problem worsened after the plague of the 1890s, which led to the
establishment of the Bombay City Improvement Trust (BIT) in 1898. While the
BIT aimed to improve housing, its efforts resulted in even more congested
accommodations. The housing shortage persisted even after World War I, when
a development department was established to build housing for workers.
However, the problem remained unresolved, and the residential conditions in
these areas were poor.
• Emergence of Worker Consciousness
• The close living conditions in the chāls created a sense of shared
experience among workers, leading to the development of a collective
working-class identity. Despite being from diverse religious, linguistic,
and caste backgrounds, workers in Girangaon (Bombay's mill district)
started identifying with each other as members of the same class. This
solidarity provided the foundation for future mobilization efforts, such as
strikes and the formation of trade unions.
• In the 1920s, three major unions emerged in Bombay: the Girni Kamgar
Mahamandal, Bombay Textile Labour Union, and Girni Kamgar Union.
The latter became the dominant working-class organization after the
great textile strike of 1928. The involvement of artists and writers like
Anna Bhau Sathe and Kaifi Azmi with the Girni Kamgar Union also led to
the growth of a left-wing cultural movement in the 1930s and 1940s.
• Role of Community and Ethnicity
• The business elite in Bombay, who were largely indigenous capitalists, built
strong inter-community ties, which were vital for their survival and success
in a colonial context. These businessmen came from diverse religious,
social, and ethnic backgrounds, contributing to the cosmopolitan nature of
the city.
• However, conflicts and tensions were also present, particularly in the
public sphere. Neighborhoods were not only places for work, festivity, and
leisure but also spaces of conflict. Notable figures, known as 'Dadas,'
emerged as powerful figures in local neighborhoods, providing jobs, credit,
and organizing strikes. The relationship between caste, ethnicity, religion,
and class remains a complex issue, as loyalties to religious or ethnic
communities often coexisted with emerging class solidarity.