Hornby Vellard & Worli From Cumballa Hill Bombay, 1870 Photo
An 1870 photo with a view of the Hornby Vellard and Worli from Cumballa Hill in Bombay. The view looks towards Worli and the Hornby Vellard from Cumballa Hill. A dwelling seen in the foreground is likely the Breach Candy area. The forested hillock visible in the foreground is Worli. A Causeway leads from Breach Candy to the hillock.
Bombay was originally a group of seven islands. Some of the islands would get submerged during high tide and the monsoon. The places from where the sea rushed in to flood the land were generally referred to as breaches. Out of the seven, only four islands would be on higher ground from the sea.
The major breaches were between Sion and Dharavi, Dharavi and Mahim, Mahim and Worli. The biggest of them all was called the “Great Breach”. It was between Malabar Hill and Worli. All the breaches were closed by 1712. What was left was the damming of the Great Breach. It was a problematic point since the waters of the Great Breach was at least 60 feet deep.
It took a while to close this water entry point. The then Governor of Bombay, William Hornby, successfully oversaw the work of closing the Great Breach in 1780. It took a tremendous amount of effort to dam the opening. A Vellard (embankment) was built across the breach after many attempts. It was named Hornby Vellard in honor of the governor. To travel across the Hornby Vellard a causeway was built over it, see photo. Once the breached points were closed, unifying the seven islands took place by reclamation which was completed between 1830-50.
Did you know – that the causeway leads to Warden Road on the left and Tardeo Road on the right.
Past posts – M. Suriyamoorthy Charcoal Drawing 1964 (#19)., European Women In Bullock Cart British India, 1900 PC ., Buckingham Canal In Chennai – Old Print 1922., A Page On Calicut From A Rare 1713 Latin Book.
