Courtesy of u/Historynerd0921 from Reddit, an Indian Hong Kong: British Bombay, the Last Piece of the Crown Jewel, in 1997.
While Bombay had been under the rule of many Indian states for centuries, its real history as a city began under English rule. A small fishing village it was when the British arrived, through the 18th century, Bombay had become the home to the headquarters of the British East India Company and had grown as a major trading town, receiving thousands of immigrants from all across India. From 1782 onwards, the city had seen massive civil engineering projects under British rule, uniting the former seven islands of Bombay into one, and bringing the well-known Indo-Saracenic architecture to the city. As the British Empire further expanded into rest of India, more goods was transported to the city and the city had become one of the most important cities in the subcontinent as a whole. During the Indian Civil War, thousands of refugees had flocked to the city. The city was also on the brink of falling to the Communist Indian forces, but in the end, a deal was struck which led to a 50-year lease of the island. Through the 60s and 70s, the city had seen continued prosperity thanks to the Middle Eastern oil boom, turning into a major shipment hub for Gulf oil and as a middle point for shipments from Europe and the Middle East to East and Southeast Asia. Today, Bombay truly remains the Last Piece of the Crown Jewel as the richest city in South Asia, where culture from all over India brought by former refugees coalesce with the cosmopolitan and British influence into a unique Bombayan culture. From Indo-Saracenic architecture in the Old City to skyscrapers of Worli, from Bombayan fish biryani to masala chai, and from the remarkable gateway to India to the bustling suburbs of Thana, Bombay offers an unforgettable experience to any visitors of the city.
In the 1945 British General Election, Winston Churchill and the Conservative Party had won a landslide victory, changing British Colonial Policy in post-WW2 India greatly. Churchill had refuted the ‘Quit India Movement’ as a whole after the war, and planned on the continuation of British Rule in India. In 1945, Churchill had declared the expansion of the British Raj into the Maldives, Ceylon and Burma, believing that British rule in South Asia will continue. However, this only resulted in infuriating the natives of these regions. In addition to this, Britain had sentenced severe terms from capital punishment to life in prison during the trial of the Indian National Army (which sided with the Japanese against the British) in order to consolidate their rule.
Amidst this chaos in 1948, an assassin struck India’s national leader for independence, Mahatma Gandhi. Though the assassin, Nathuram Godse, testified to have killed Gandhi as he was against Gandhi’s policy of reconciliation towards Muslims of India, rumours had spread throughout the nation that the British were to blame for the assassination. With this sudden surge in anti-British sentiments, Nehru and the Indian National Congress’ ties with the British came into question, especially as a scandalous photo with Edwina Mountbatten had been released.
A call for a ‘decisive and direct action’ had been made by the Communist Party of India against both the British government and the moderate INC, inciting an uprising beginning from the town of Naxalbari. Churchill demanded more troops be deployed to India to pacify this uprising, but Parliament and the public, tired and having yet to recover from the war, voted Churchill out in the 1949 General Election before more troops were sent off. Attlee and Nehru negotiated on Indian independence swiftly, considering the amount of tension already built up, and the Republic of India was declared in Delhi in January 26th, 1950 (though transition of administration was yet to come in many regions). However, P. Krishna Pillai’s communist forces had already taken over large swathes of land in the East and was on the march along the Ganges river. On September 21st, Delhi had fallen; and the People’s Republic of India was declared by Pillai on October 1st, 1950.
During the rest of the 1950s, most of Northern India had fallen to the hands of the People’s Republic. With this situation, Attlee even more badly wanted Britain to leave India as soon as possible. However, the Americans wanted British forces to stay and stop India from falling into communism, and arguments continued. As Communist forces marched at the gates of Burma and surrounding Bombay, and Attlee convinced the Americans that Britain might fall to communism if this unpopular war continued, the Americans finally conceded. Britain finally left the war under the condition that Burma was split from India back under British rule until the situation was stabilized and could be freed as a democratic republic, and a 50-year lease of Bombay Island was made. Attlee was reluctant to make such conditions, but the Conservative minority, the businesses and the refugees in Bombay had forced him into demanding those conditions. Similarly, Pillai was also reluctant to accept such offers, but struggling to push the Republic through the Deccan Plateau, he was forced to accept for practical reasons.
For two years, the civil war had continued as a guerrilla war waged by anti-secular Muslims of the Northwest raged on, and the march of the communist forces had come to a grinding halt on the mountainous plains in the South. But the initial failures of the Republic of India had made the course of the war irreversible and in 1953, with the inevitable fall of Madras, Nehru and his INC cabinet had retreated to Ceylon, Laccadive, the Maldives and the Andaman Islands. Though the People’s Republic intended on crossing to Ceylon through Adam’s Bridge (i.e. Rama’s Bridge), American naval forces made it practically impossible to do so, and a tacit ceasefire was made.
Following the war, thousands of refugees had crossed into Ceylon, which resulted in a rebellion from the local Sinhalese people. The conflict between the refugees and the locals had boiled over into a terrible massacre, later known as the 4.30 Incident, resulting in thousands to tens of thousands dead, and martial law being put in place for decades. Nehru was forced into resignation for his failures in the civil war and the massacre, with B. R. Ambedkar taking his position. However, Ambedkar was also forced into resignation as V. K. Krishna Menon enacted a coup, accusing Ambdekar of having ‘communist sympathies’. This was due to Ambedkar moving towards ending martial law, and towards instituting a ban on discrimination according to caste.
While Bombay had been under the rule of many Indian states for centuries, its real history as a city began under English rule. A small fishing village it was when the British arrived, through the 18th century, Bombay had become the home to the headquarters of the British East India Company and had grown as a major trading town, receiving thousands of immigrants from all across India. From 1782 onwards, the city had seen massive civil engineering projects under British rule, uniting the former seven islands of Bombay into one, and bringing the well-known Indo-Saracenic architecture to the city. As the British Empire further expanded into rest of India, more goods was transported to the city and the city had become one of the most important cities in the subcontinent as a whole. During the Indian Civil War, thousands of refugees had flocked to the city. The city was also on the brink of falling to the Communist Indian forces, but in the end, a deal was struck which led to a 50-year lease of the island. Through the 60s and 70s, the city had seen continued prosperity thanks to the Middle Eastern oil boom, turning into a major shipment hub for Gulf oil and as a middle point for shipments from Europe and the Middle East to East and Southeast Asia. Today, Bombay truly remains the Last Piece of the Crown Jewel as the richest city in South Asia, where culture from all over India brought by former refugees coalesce with the cosmopolitan and British influence into a unique Bombayan culture. From Indo-Saracenic architecture in the Old City to skyscrapers of Worli, from Bombayan fish biryani to masala chai, and from the remarkable gateway to India to the bustling suburbs of Thana, Bombay offers an unforgettable experience to any visitors of the city.
In the 1945 British General Election, Winston Churchill and the Conservative Party had won a landslide victory, changing British Colonial Policy in post-WW2 India greatly. Churchill had refuted the ‘Quit India Movement’ as a whole after the war, and planned on the continuation of British Rule in India. In 1945, Churchill had declared the expansion of the British Raj into the Maldives, Ceylon and Burma, believing that British rule in South Asia will continue. However, this only resulted in infuriating the natives of these regions. In addition to this, Britain had sentenced severe terms from capital punishment to life in prison during the trial of the Indian National Army (which sided with the Japanese against the British) in order to consolidate their rule.
Amidst this chaos in 1948, an assassin struck India’s national leader for independence, Mahatma Gandhi. Though the assassin, Nathuram Godse, testified to have killed Gandhi as he was against Gandhi’s policy of reconciliation towards Muslims of India, rumours had spread throughout the nation that the British were to blame for the assassination. With this sudden surge in anti-British sentiments, Nehru and the Indian National Congress’ ties with the British came into question, especially as a scandalous photo with Edwina Mountbatten had been released.
A call for a ‘decisive and direct action’ had been made by the Communist Party of India against both the British government and the moderate INC, inciting an uprising beginning from the town of Naxalbari. Churchill demanded more troops be deployed to India to pacify this uprising, but Parliament and the public, tired and having yet to recover from the war, voted Churchill out in the 1949 General Election before more troops were sent off. Attlee and Nehru negotiated on Indian independence swiftly, considering the amount of tension already built up, and the Republic of India was declared in Delhi in January 26th, 1950 (though transition of administration was yet to come in many regions). However, P. Krishna Pillai’s communist forces had already taken over large swathes of land in the East and was on the march along the Ganges river. On September 21st, Delhi had fallen; and the People’s Republic of India was declared by Pillai on October 1st, 1950.
During the rest of the 1950s, most of Northern India had fallen to the hands of the People’s Republic. With this situation, Attlee even more badly wanted Britain to leave India as soon as possible. However, the Americans wanted British forces to stay and stop India from falling into communism, and arguments continued. As Communist forces marched at the gates of Burma and surrounding Bombay, and Attlee convinced the Americans that Britain might fall to communism if this unpopular war continued, the Americans finally conceded. Britain finally left the war under the condition that Burma was split from India back under British rule until the situation was stabilized and could be freed as a democratic republic, and a 50-year lease of Bombay Island was made. Attlee was reluctant to make such conditions, but the Conservative minority, the businesses and the refugees in Bombay had forced him into demanding those conditions. Similarly, Pillai was also reluctant to accept such offers, but struggling to push the Republic through the Deccan Plateau, he was forced to accept for practical reasons.
For two years, the civil war had continued as a guerrilla war waged by anti-secular Muslims of the Northwest raged on, and the march of the communist forces had come to a grinding halt on the mountainous plains in the South. But the initial failures of the Republic of India had made the course of the war irreversible and in 1953, with the inevitable fall of Madras, Nehru and his INC cabinet had retreated to Ceylon, Laccadive, the Maldives and the Andaman Islands. Though the People’s Republic intended on crossing to Ceylon through Adam’s Bridge (i.e. Rama’s Bridge), American naval forces made it practically impossible to do so, and a tacit ceasefire was made.
Following the war, thousands of refugees had crossed into Ceylon, which resulted in a rebellion from the local Sinhalese people. The conflict between the refugees and the locals had boiled over into a terrible massacre, later known as the 4.30 Incident, resulting in thousands to tens of thousands dead, and martial law being put in place for decades. Nehru was forced into resignation for his failures in the civil war and the massacre, with B. R. Ambedkar taking his position. However, Ambedkar was also forced into resignation as V. K. Krishna Menon enacted a coup, accusing Ambdekar of having ‘communist sympathies’. This was due to Ambedkar moving towards ending martial law, and towards instituting a ban on discrimination according to caste.
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