Question

Analyse any three effects of population on Bombay during 19th and 20th century

Answer 1

The modern city of Bombay took shape in the 19th century. The city was built by the joining together of many islands, a process that was more or less completed by the first half of the century. Reclamations were then started, a process that continues till today. During the latter half of this century, the importance of Bombay as a centre of cotton trade, specially during the American Civil War (1861-65), created a pool of wealth, not only among the British, but also among Indians. Much of this money was channelled into rebuilding the core of the town into a grand showpiece. The First Indian War of Independence, in 1857, makes a convenient watershed between these two streams of development. Before the War of Independence, India was governed by the East India Company; after the war it reverted to the Crown.