Bombay

Under The Skin – Dharavi’s Lost Leather Artisans

A third-generation ‘Bombay-Tamil’ narrates a personal history of Dharavi’s leather industry and its vanished ‘tholwadis’

‘Folk of the Salt-Spray’ by André Baptista

‘One of the lesser-known communities of Mumbai, the East Indian Christians have an intriguing history. Let’s delve into questions around their identity to understand the innate, vibrant pluralism of this community, and the many cultural nuances woven into its fabric.’ – André Baptista for Sarmaya Talks. Dr. André Baptista is an archaeologist, historian and cultural… Read more »

‘All Access Heritage: Why Mumbai needs an open-door policy’ by Fiona Fernandez

“For a metropolis that is viewed as a world city, we woefully lack access and entry to several key landmarks and places of heritage value. We need to stir curiosity and trigger engagement about our rich and diverse local history among young minds and adults alike .” – Fiona Fernandez. Fiona Fernandez is an Associate… Read more »

Object of the week: A Frenchman’s view of Princely India

Over six years spent travelling around India, Louis Rousselet learned photography and captured some of the most beautiful scenes of the Subcontinent, from the Himalayas to the Nilgiris and from coast to coast

Bombay in the Days of Queen Anne, Being an Account of the Settlement written by John Burnell

This is the 1st Ed. No. LXXII, in the Second series of the Bombay in the Days of Queen Anne. As a official of the East India Service, John Brunell arrived to the subcontinent in the latter half of the 17th century. This book has an introduction by Samuel T. Sheppard and includes Brunell’s two… Read more »

Bombay’s Jewish Communities:Diaspora, Identity and History by Sifra Lentin

This talk sheds light on the émigré community of the Baghdadi Jews in Bombay and interprets their built legacy in the context of Bombay’s economic, philanthropic and cosmopolitan milieu.

Bombay Imagined: The City of Unrealised Dreams by Robert Stephens

This intensely illustrated talk invites you to eavesdrop on previously unheard dialogues between the built and unbuilt, the city as it was and as it might have been.

Heritage walk on Mumbai’s water histories with Akanksha Gupta

A unique heritage walk led by Akanksha Gupta helped us understand Mumbai’s history, politics and culture through an exploration of the routes water takes to reach our homes

A View of the Town, Fort, and Harbour of Bombay: Taken from Malabar Hill

This aquatint from 1800 gives a sweeping view of Fort, the Bombay Harbour and other British points of interest in South Bombay as seen from the vantage point of Malabar Hills. The highest point in the south of the city, it was where the original Walkeshwar Temple was founded by the Silhara Kings, who reigned… Read more »

Plague Visitation, Bombay, 1896-1897

This album captures the arrival of the bubonic plague in Bombay in 1896 and 1897. It documents the circumstances of the time and the plague’s progression into becoming one of the deadliest pandemics of 19th century India. Acacio Gabriel Viegas, a Portuguese medical practitioner, recognized the plague in Bombay at Mandvi in September 1896. Regarded… Read more »

Mahars

This photograph of the Mahar community is by William Johnson. The Mahars traditionally belonged to the lowest caste in the Hindu caste system in the Bombay presidency. This image originally formed a part of a series called ‘Photographs of Western India’ (1855-1862) by William Johnson. It reappeared in his later publication ‘The Oriental Races and… Read more »

Karnatika Brahmans

This photograph of the Karnatika Brahmins was taken by William Johnson. This image originally formed a part of a series called ‘Photographs of Western India’ (1855-1862) by William Johnson. It reappeared in his later publication ‘The Oriental Races and Tribes, Residents and Visitors of Bombay’ (1863 and 1866). The series gives a glimpse into the… Read more »

Fisherwomen of Bombay

This photograph of the Fisherwomen of Bombay is by William Johnson. The Kolis (fishing community) are oldest known inhabitants of the seven islands that make up this city, they have lived here for centuries—some say since 600 BCE. This community may not be as visible on the city’s bustling streets as they once were, but… Read more »

Illustrations to Oriental Memoirs

The first wave of European immigrants included sailors, emissaries, merchants, and the armed forces, people who could seize the land; the next wave included physicians, cartographers, botanists, and naturalists, people who could research it. In the hope of finding new medicines and new sources of revenue, they studied Indian plants, and created or commissioned thousands… Read more »

Flowers of the Bombay Presidency

Flowers of the Bombay Presidency offers fascinating insights into the botanical beauty of the western states of India in the 1880s, with 202 illustrations of Indian flowers and plants in watercolour painting. Nearly all of the paintings are supplemented by a handwritten pencil inscription with the name of the flower (often in Latin with the… Read more »

Standing Parsi Statue and the Byculla Hotel, Bombay

The Khada Parsi statue, or the Standing Parsi Statue, is a memorial fountain dedicated to Seth Cursetjee Manockjee Shroff (1763-1845), a Parsi businessman and educational reformer. He founded the Alexandra’s Girls English Institution which is considered to be one of the first schools dedicated to educating women in 18th century Bombay . His son Judge… Read more »

Dancer and Musicians, Bombay

This is a photograph of an unidentified nautch party in Bombay. It was taken by a French photographer Eugene Auguste Taurines who was active in Bombay from the mid-1880s to around 1901 and ran a studio in the city. Starting around the Mughal era, entourages of dancing girls performed for rulers and chieftains, not only… Read more »