Hornby Vellard Bombay, 1955 Postcard
A 1955 postcard of the Hornby Vellard Bombay (Mumbai). A well-known fact that Bombay once comprised a group of seven islands. That the Portuguese were the first Europeans to take control of the islands in 1535. The seven islands in 1661 were gifted to King Charles II, of England. As dowry on his marriage to Princess Catharine of Braganza of Portugal.
No reclamation work of any consequence was undertaken until 1715. It was at the initiative of then-British Governor Charles Boone that construction work commenced on the Vellado. Vellado in Portuguese was a causeway that was anglicized to vellard by the British. The Vellard was constructed to close the breach between the island of Worli and the H-shaped Bombay island.
The busy road which leads today from Haji Ali junction to Worli has been built on the foundation on the old Vellado. Which was strengthed in the 1780s, rebuilt and known as Hornby Vellard after the British Governor William Hornby. This was the beginning of the massive land reclamation of Mumbai that would take 1½ centuries to complete. Click on the photo for better view.
Did you know- at the time of Portuguese control the H-shaped island of Bombay was owned by a Portuguese lady Dona Rodrigo De Moncanto. It contained coconut gardens, rice fields, and also extracted toddy from the coconut trees.
From the collection- Raja Ravi Varma’s “Birth of Shakuntala” Oleograph 1894., Britishers In Hand Pulled Rickshaw In India,1918 Photo., Mumbai Welcoming The King & Queen – Old Print 1905., The City Of Old Delhi Map 1877.
