MAZAGAON
By Ayan Ghosh
Ilhas de Bom Baim
Mazagon was one of the Bombay islands (Ilhas de Bom Baim) acquired by Portugal from Bahadur Shah of Gujarat under the terms of the Treaty of Bassein. This treaty, signed on December 23, 1534, also granted Portuguese control of territories in Vasai, Chaul, Thane, Kalyan, Salsette, Daman, and Diu. In 1547, Viceroy João de Castro appointed Antonio Pessoa as the landlord of Mazagon (and some other territories), on condition that he render military assistance to the Governor, pay lease rent, and remit taxes collected from the island. Lessees earned revenue by trading in fish, coconut, toddy, paddy, salt, and other products, as well as by levying taxes on merchants who traded in the islands.
Portuguese Mazagon
During the Portuguese occupation, Mazagon gained fame for its mangoes, which made their way all the way to the Mughal court in Delhi. Shallow creeks separated the hilly island from Bombay to the south and Parel to the north. Worli lay to the west, separated by the Great Breach and low-lying swamps that flooded during high tide. To protect the island from sea raids, the Portuguese built a small fort atop Mazagon Hill, overlooking the harbour. The 19th century saw the razing of many hills on the islands to quarry rocks, leaving only Mazagon Hill intact. The British demolished the Portuguese-era fort and constructed an underground tank and a public garden in its place, named after Kaka Baptista, a prominent leader of the East Indian community.
Origin of the Name
The Portuguese gave the island the name Mazaguao, named after the fishing settlement, Machch-gao. Dr. John Fryer, an East India Company surgeon who visited this area in 1672–81, wrote that Koli fishermen used canoes to paddle around the shallow creeks in search of bombil. He mentioned Massegoung, a major fishing town known for its bombil (Bombay Duck), the locals' staple diet.
Native Population
Though the islands lacked an urban core, Koliwadas (Koli villages) dotted the coastline. The local population consisted of a mix of castes and communities, both native and migrants. Among the early migrants were Pathare Prabhus, Panchkalshis, and Palshikar Brahmins, among other groups, who had arrived in the 13th century when Raja Bhimdev established his capital at Mahikawati (Mahim). Groups engaged in traditional occupations were the Kolis (fishing), Bhandaris (toddy tappers), Kunbis and Agris (paddy cultivators), Mitha Agris (saltpan workers), and Kumbhars (potters).
The East Indian Community
Throughout Portuguese rule, Franciscan, Jesuit, and Dominican missionaries worked with the colonial authorities, facilitating the administration of recently conquered lands through religious conversions. Portuguese and Indians married and had children, adding a new order of Roman Catholics to the social mix. To set themselves apart from Catholics of non-Portuguese descent, they designated themselves as East Indians in 1887, the year of Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee. The missionaries were only partially effective, though, and a sizable portion of the local populace continued to be non-Christian. Kolis, who didn’t convert, followed their traditional beliefs and practices. Kolis and East Indians are among the oldest communities living in Mazagon, which over the centuries has seen plenty of inward and outward migration.
The British East India Company
On January 23, 1661, the English Crown acquired Bombay under the provisions of the Marriage Treaty signed between England and Portugal. The alliance was part of the dowry of Catherine of Braganza, daughter of King John IV of Portugal, when she married King Charles II of England. Unwilling to govern the remote islands, the English Crown leased them to the British East India Company (BEIC) in 1668 for a yearly rent of 10 pounds.
However, Mazagon was not part of the marriage treaty. Alvares Peres De Tavora, the Portuguese landlord at the time, retained the island by paying a quit rent to the BEIC and rendering military service to the governor. This arrangement lasted till the 18th century, when Tavora’s descendants sold the estate to BEIC. Mazagon's lease as a single large estate expired on May 11, 1768. Following its expiration, individuals divided and leased Mazagon into smaller holdings. Over time, Mazagon ceased to be an island, as it was physically and administratively integrated within the Bombay Presidency.
Having secured a foothold on India’s west coast, the BEIC shifted operations from Surat to Mumbai. The first governor of Bombay, Gerald Aungier, was responsible for the initial growth of the city. Aungier fortified Bombay Castle, established a town within its walls, and guaranteed the native population freedom of religion and property ownership. To maintain harmony, he set up panchayats for each community to empower self-governance. Attracted by religious freedom and business opportunities, mercantile communities from various regions of India migrated to Mumbai.
The Wadia Family
The BEIC identified Mumbai's strategic advantage as a harbor. In a letter dated December 15, 1673, Gerald Aungier wrote, ‘The island is happy in several bays and havens for shipping, for their security against the violence of the sea and weather, as well as in docks to haul them ashore, to clean and repair them, together with very convenient places to build and launch ships and vessels from 400 to 40 tonnes burden.’ By the end of 1673, BEIC had constructed a full-fledged dockyard at Mazagon. At Mazagon, they anchored and hauled ashore ships up to 200 tonnes for cleaning and repair for the next century.
A large number of Parsis had migrated to Mumbai, and they were the early entrepreneurs, willing to invest capital in new technologies and explore foreign markets. In 1736, Lovji Nusserwanjee Wadia, an early patriarch of the Wadia family of shipwrights and naval architects, secured contracts from the BEIC to build ships and develop docks in Mumbai. The Wadia family had already established shipbuilding yards in Surat, from where they brought their expertise to Mumbai. The master shipbuilders of the Wadia family supervised the establishment of the Mazagon Dockyard in 1774.
Shipbuilding at Mazagon
Mazagon Dockyard became one of the leading shipbuilding and repair facilities in India, contributing significantly to the British Royal Navy and the East India Company fleet. Rustomee Maneckji was the first Wadia master shipbuilder to work at Mazagon Dock. He designed the 800-tonne Thomas Grenville, launched in 1808. To overcome the size limitations of the dry docks, a slipway was used to build and launch Thomas Grenville. Another ship built on the slipway was the 866-tonne Sir Charles Malcolm, launched in 1828. By the early 19th century, Mazagon was building warships for the East India Company. On January 25, 1815, Mazagon launched Sphinx, a warship weighing 235 tonnes and equipped with 12 guns. On January 6, 1816, the same plan led to the launch of another warship, the Cameleon. Jamsetjee Bomanjee Wadia, the son of Lovji Wadia, designed and launched the 74-gun Ganges-class HMS Minden, the first Royal Navy warship built outside Britain, on June 19, 1810.
Age of Steamships
Mumbai was an early beneficiary of the Industrial Revolution, which started in Britain around the 1760s and quickly spread across Europe. The steam engine was one of the most significant inventions of the Industrial Revolution. The development of powerful steam engines and improvements in ship design enabled the construction of ocean-going steamships capable of long-distance voyages. Steamships were faster and more reliable than sail ships, which negated any dependence on seasonal trade winds. As steamships became more efficient and reliable, it gradually brought an end to the Age of Sail.
The first steamship built at the Bombay docks was the 400-tonne Hugh Lindsey, designed by Nowrojee Jamsetjee Wadia. Fitted with two 80 HP engines that arrived from London, the Hugh Lindsey started her maiden voyage on March 20, 1830, and reached Suez after 21 days, travelling at an average speed of six knots with coaling halts at Aden and Jeddah.
Inspired by Hugh Lindsey's success, Ardaseer Cursetjee, a descendant of Lovji Nusserwanjee Wadia, imported a 10 HP steam engine from England and installed it on the Indus, launching it on August 16, 1833. Indus was the first steamship built at Mazagon Dock. On April 1, 1841, the BEIC steam factory and foundry in Mumbai promoted Ardaseer Cursetjee to the position of chief engineer. On February 16, 1851, Ardaseer Cursetjee launched the 80-tonne steamer Lowjee Family at Mazagon Dock in honour of his shipbuilding family.
The Opium Trade
By the late 17th century, the BEIC was involved in the opium trade, exporting opium from British-controlled India to China. The Chinese Emperor Daoguang imposed a ban on opium, prompting Britain to send troops equipped with advanced warships to bombard Chinese ports, leading to the First Opium War (1839–1842). In 1842, the ruling Qing dynasty was forced to sign the Treaty of Nanking. The treaty included provisions such as Hong Kong's cession to Britain, the opening of five Chinese ports for trade, and the payment of British indemnities. This gave Indian merchants access to Chinese ports, and the lucrative opium trade resulted in a shipping boom at Mazagon.
In 1835, Indian merchants built the Mughal dry dock adjacent to Mazagon Dock to accommodate their ships. In 1839, Furdonji Limji commissioned the construction of the 350-tonne Mary Gordon. Other ships built at the Mughal dry dock were the Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy in 1848, for Jeejeebhoy Dadabhoy and Sons, and the Mountstuart Elphinstone in 1854, for Cowasji Jahangir Readymoney. Foreigners such as the Imam of Muscat placed orders for ships built at the Mughal Dock, including the 750-tonne frigate Queen Victoria, which launched in October 1839. Dhunjibhoy Rustomjee (son of Rustomee Maneckji) designed this ship. The Imam of Muscat, impressed by Queen Victoria, ordered another ship, a sloop-of-war named England, and launched it from the Mughal dry dock on November 1, 1841.
The Royal Mail Service
The Royal Mail service between India and England evolved over time, adapting to technological advancements and changes in transportation infrastructure. Towards the mid-19th century, steamships began to play a more significant role in transoceanic travel. Earlier, ships had to navigate around the southern tip of Africa, a journey that took several months. The BEIC was keen to develop a new route via the Red Sea to cut the distance between India and Europe. The Mediterranean Sea ships disembarked their mail, cargo, and passengers at Alexandria, Egypt, and then transferred them overland to Suez, located on the Gulf of Suez, an arm of the Red Sea. Steamships from Suez then completed the journey to Mumbai, with a coaling halt at Aden. This new route opened up easy travel to India. European tourists disembarked at Mumbai port and travelled inland via the railway network.
The Suez Canal
The Suez Canal opened in 1869, which significantly reduced travel time between Europe and Asia. The Suez Canal facilitated the expansion of steamship services, as steam-powered vessels could navigate the canal more easily than sailing ships. Steamship companies, such as the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O), offered regular services between England and India. P&O was at the forefront of technological advancements in steamship design and navigation. P&O’s dockyard at Mazagon had a reputation for its skilled shipbuilding capacity. Land reclamation projects along the eastern seaboard in the 1850s and 1860s created space for new docks, such as Prince's Dock, Victoria Dock, and Alexandra Dock (now Indira Dock), all lying south of Mazagon Dock. By the end of the 19th century, Mumbai was one of the most important ports of the British Empire, linking Suez to Singapore and Shanghai.
Suburban Railway
The steam locomotive was another technological marvel of the Industrial Revolution. The steam locomotive made its first journey between Bori Bunder and Thane on April 16, 1853. The Central Line, which runs between Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT), the site of the old Bori Bunder station, and Kalyan, has this 34-kilometer line as its core. On December 12, 1910, a new line, the Harbour Line, connected the harbors on the eastern seaboard. The first stretch started from Kurla, via Sewri and Wadala, and terminated at Reay Road. By carving up part of Mazagon Hill, the Harbour Line extended from Reay Road to CSMT in 1925, with a stop at Dockyard Road. Upon completion in 1925, the Harbour Line became India's first electric line to operate. In 1951, the line from Kurla was further extended to Mankhurd, on the Thane Creek. In 1992, the Harbour Line connected Vashi, situated across Thane Creek.
Cotton Mills
Mumbai had been a major centre for the cotton trade since the 17th century. The city's strategic location on India's west coast made it a hub for cotton storage and export. The Industrial Revolution resulted in new methods of mass production, giving rise to textile factories. Cotton mills in Mumbai adopted the latest textile machinery and technology imported from Britain, including spinning frames, power looms, and other mechanised equipment. Cowasji Nanabhai Davar established the Bombay Spinning and Weaving Company in 1854, and imported English machinery to establish the first cotton mill at Tardeo. As the number of mills increased, Mumbai's landscape was transformed with the construction of large factory complexes, warehouses, and worker housing in areas such as Parel, Byculla, and Girgaon (the mill district).
Influx of Migrants
The Indian Railway network penetrated the interiors, connecting suburban areas to major cities and facilitating the transportation of goods and passengers. The improvements in transportation resulted in a large number of migrants arriving in Mumbai in search of jobs. Rural areas in various parts of India faced challenges such as poverty, landlessness, indebtedness, and agricultural distress. Push factors such as crop failures, famines, and socio-economic disparities compelled many rural dwellers to migrate to urban centres like Mumbai in search of livelihoods. Foreigners, like Baghdadi Jews, migrated to Mumbai to escape religious persecution in their homelands. Migrants also arrived from far-flung British colonies, like the Chinese, who came from Canton in southern China and established a Chinatown in Mazagon. Labour migration contributed to Mumbai's cultural and social diversity, as migrants brought their languages, traditions, and customs to the city.
Modern Mazagon
Mazagon’s proximity to the sea has historically made it an important area for trade, shipping, and naval activities. Mazagon is home to the historic Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL), one of India's leading shipyards, and Mumbai's Koliwada is among the oldest. Apart from the shipbuilding industry, Mazagon is an important transport hub, which facilitates the movement of workers and migrants. It is home to a mix of communities, including Parsis, Muslims, East Indian Catholics, and others, contributing to its cosmopolitan mood. Several architectural landmarks and heritage buildings reflect its colonial and industrial past. These include old warehouses, bungalows, chawls, markets, public spaces, religious structures, and residential units built by diverse communities. Overall, Mazagon's unique blend of naval heritage, industrial legacy, cultural diversity, and coastal location makes it a distinctive part of Mumbai's maritime history and urban landscape.
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