British rule (Part 01)
After the battle of
Panipat in 1761, Maratha power declined and the British took over. Salsette
including Bandra came under British rule. The Portuguese were left with just
Goa, Daman and Diu. Bandra was under British supremacy from 1 January 1775 till 14
August 1947.
The English found in this
newly acquired territory of Salsette thousands of Indian families who were
converted to Christianity. It was from these families the English drew their
supplies of clerks, assistants and secretaries. At that time there was hardly a
Hindu, Parsi or Muslim who could read Roman characters.
There was also a large
influx of Christians from Goa, Karnataka and Kerala and this prompted local
converts to take the name of 'East Indians' and form the East Indian
Association on 26 May 1887 to distinguish the 'sons of the soil'. These were first employees of the East India Company, from Indian Christians who came from
further down the West coast and shared the same names and religion, and vied
for the same jobs.
Bandra at one time was thriving with East Indians (original residents of Bombay Salsette, Bassein,
and Thana), a few Goan and Manglorian immigrants, Parsis, Muslims, Europeans
and Hindu Kolis. Christians in Bandra are mostly of the Koli, Bhandari and
Kunbi castes.
In 1733, Kunbi farmers
migrated to this island from Colaba because the fish manure they used was
banned. Bandra remained a village with plantations of rice and vegetables in
the low-lying areas of the island until it was connected to Mahim by a causeway
in 1845. Many bungalows were built in the decades of the 1860s and 70s. The
Pali Hill area, near the much older Pali Village and now inhabited mostly by
members of the film community, saw the first constructions only in the 1880s.
On 12th April 1867 the
first railway service was inaugurated with one train per day between Virar and
Bombay. Six years later, it was increased to 24 each day and now there are 940
trains that stop at Bandra every day.
Till as late as the 30s,
Bandra had only one bus service from Pali Naka, Hill road to the Railway
station. Other people just walked to the nearest Railway station. After World
War II the building boom started to accommodate immigrants.
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