How Bombay Once Was

The journey of Bombay, from seven disparate islands, covering no more than 20 square miles of land, to the behemoth that it is today, has been sparsely but beautifully visually documented. It was just over 350 years ago that the British East India Company set foot on this tiny archipelago, leased to it by the British Crown under King Charles II. The visual representation of this then-obscure part of the country begins in earnest with this transfer.

Get ready to be transported back in time, to a place with salt pans, rice fields, coconut groves, forest cover, intertidal zones and hills. In this special film, we explore Bombay’s humble beginnings with the depiction of the evolution of a burgeoning trading outpost into a minor township before a respectable settlement is primed to explode into a major metropolis.

Looking through maps, engravings, lithographs, photographs, watercolors, and oil paintings from the India Visual Art Archive collection, join us with Mrinal Kapadia, Founder, India Visual Art Archive, as we explore the story of Bombay.

Film Premiere

29th July 2022, Friday

7:00 PM (IST)