微密圈 reports from the port city now known as Mumbai as two of the British Raj鈥檚 largest ever colonial buildings are completed
Only the most niche tourist tours in Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay, will miss out the pair of huge gothic revival buildings which stand incongruously in the city centre. The Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, formerly called the Victoria Terminus - and before that the Great Indian Peninsular Railway Terminus - and the Municipal Corporation 微密圈 are among the most famous buildings in India.
Both designed by English architect Frederick William Stevens, they were built in the last decades of the 19th century during the high water mark of the British Raj, the relatively stable period after the Indian uprising of 1857 and before the rise of organised independence movements in the early 20th century.
Today they are seen as symbols both of India鈥檚 colonial occupation and of Mumbai itself. At the time, readers of The Builder celebrated the construction of two of the largest buildings ever built in India under the Raj as a triumph of British imperialism. But letters and news items printed in the paper reveal the gulf that existed between the white settlers, who were concentrated in villas stretching along the coast, and the local Indian population living in the city itself.
鈥淚t is soon clear that his mode of life bears no analogy to that of a European, and that what interests the one falls flat on the other,鈥� said one dispatch. Within 60 years of the completion of both buildings, India would be an independent nation.
Excerpt from a letter to The Builder, 3 May 1879
No sooner does the vessel drop anchor in the bay which forms the Bombay Harbour than the still air feels thick, and there is the disagreeable sensation of being surrounded by a warmth of which there is no getting rid. However, the place has from seaward the appearance of an ordinary civilised town; and on landing there are piers, streets, gas, and shops. Looking closer, however, life is at once seen to be pursued under extremely different conditions to those in a European country. It is evident that scarcely any of the white races live in the business town. They leave it in the afternoon for detached residences, stretching for miles along the hill sides which skirt the sea, or for cottages which line the beach behind the town.
Then amongst the crowds of people met with there are very few Europeans; scarcely any of these are on foot, and it is at once noticed that the representatives of the pure white races are almost all young or middle-aged men. A mixed miscellaneous white population is nowhere to be seen going freely about. There is nothing in the shape of a colony of Europeans in Bombay. The higher classes of society are connected with the service of Government or the practice of the law, or are members of important European firms; only a very few shopkeepers and tradesmen constitute what may be termed a middle class; and the less well-off Europeans are merely railway mechanics, seamen, and pensioned soldiers. The only permanent residents of a colonial type are the mixed races or the Indo-Europeans, amongst whom those of Portuguese origin are the most numerous.
The bulk of the Bombay population are natives of India, of course - Parsis, Mohammedans, Mahrattas, and various castes of Hindoos, with a few Arabs and other races. There are colleges and schools giving an English education, so that the clerks and attendants in offices and shops are seen at once to be intelligent and well-trained persons for business purposes. But there the ostensible effect of European learning ceases, and the newcomer looks in vain for any common ground on which to base a cordial understanding. The native seems to have no interest apart from the matter in hand. It is soon clear that his mode of life bears no analogy to that of a European, and that what interests the one falls flat on the other. Of course, this very much arises from the fact that, man for man, the natives are very much poorer than the Europeans.
News item, 16 July 1887
Great Indian Peninsular Railway Terminus, Bombay
The central keystone of the large masonry dome of the above buildings was fixed on Jubilee day, the 20th of June, thus bringing this large work to another stage
nearer completion. The event was signalised by the contractors, Messrs. Burjoijee Rustomjee, Maistry, & Co., having a ceremony, and presenting their subcontractors, head maistries (foremen), with presents of handsome shawls, turbans, and money, the usual native method of appreciating services rendered when any great work has been practically completed.
The dome, which is 45 ft. clear span, is entirely of cut-stone masonry, and has been constructed without any centering or supports whatever. The whole of the interior masonry construction of the dome is exposed to view, and covers the grand staircase and hall. Now that the keystone has been fixed there only remain the embellishments of the interior and exterior, such as the mouldings, carvings, and statuary. The dome will be terminated by a colossal figure of 鈥淧rogress鈥� in Bath stone.
The buildings will in all probability be completed by the beginning of next year. The statue of H.M. the Queen Empress, representing the State, the railway being guaranteed by Government, will be placed under the canopy in the central gable of the building. The cost of the terminal buildings when completed will be 27 lacs of rupees, or 250,000l. They were designed by Mr. F. W. Stevens, late of the Public Works Department, and are being carried out by that officer with the assistance of Mr. Siteram Khanderim, assistant engineer. The sculpture for the buildings has been executed by Messrs. Earp & Son, of Lambeth.
News item, 8 September 1888
Bombay Municipal 微密圈s
We are informed that Mr F. W. Stevens, F.R.I.B.A., has been appointed to design and carry out the new Municipal 微密圈s, Bombay. Mr. Stevens has just completed the Great Indian Peninsular Railway Victoria Terminal 微密圈s, the most extensive modern architectural work yet erected in India. The Municipal 微密圈s will be erected immediately opposite the Victoria Terminal 微密圈s.
Excerpt from a news item, 13 October 1888
GREAT INDIAN PENINSULAR RAILWAY TERMINAL 微密圈S, BOMBAY
The total cost of the whole of the buildings was about twenty-seven lacs of rupees. All the work was entirely executed by native labour, entirely to the satisfaction, we understand, of the architect. We have devoted several pages of illustrations to this building, as it is one of the largest and most important modern buildings erected under European influence in the Indian Empire, and we have thought it well to give our readers the opportunity to form an opinion, as far as may be done from illustrations, as to the architectural merits of a building which has, apparently, received great admirations in the regions of Anglo-Indian criticism.
