Bandra

Bandra is a suburb in Mumbai, known as "Queen of the Suburbs". It is home to a railway station on the Mumbai Suburban Railway, Western line.

History

Legend has it that the name Bandra comes from the Hindi word Bandar, meaning port.

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In 1543, the Portuguese took possession of the island of Bombay by force. The Portuguese gave the Jesuit priests the sole ownership of Bandra, Parel, Wadala and Sion. In 1570 the Jesuits built a college and a church in Bandra which was called St Anne's College. In the mid-18th century, the traveller John Fryer records that the Jesuit church, which stood near the sea shore, was still in use. The Portuguese built several churches in Bandra, including the famous St. Andrew's Church, which has the distinctive Portuguese-style facade. Bandra has the unique distinction of having the most churches anywhere in the world: 5 churches, and a Basilica of Our Lady of the Mount.

Related Topics:
1543 - Portuguese - Bombay - Jesuit - Parel - Wadala - Sion - 1570

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In 1733 when the Kunbi farmers migrated to this island from Bombay, because the fish manure they used was banned, they found St. Andrew's church (still extant), St. Stanislaus's Orphanage and a monastery of St. Anne. After this was destroyed in a Maratha raid in the year 1737, when the Portuguese troops were aided by the English, a slaughterhouse was built on the same spot, and assigned to the Dakhni Muslims for operating it. There was a section of Kokni Muslims in the present eastern part of Bandra, called Navpada. Where nine prominent Kokni Muslims were inhabitated, therefore it was named as "Nav" i.e. nine and Pada i.e. area. They built a mosque called Kokni Masjid, and a cemetry which has a history of about over 300 years. The area was then divided as Navpada East and Navpada West, by the indroduction of present western railway line. The present lake at called "Bandra Talao" was one of the properties of these kokni Muslims, which was later acquired by the Municipal Corporation for maintianance.

Related Topics:
1733 - Kunbi - St. Andrew - St. Anne - Maratha - 1737

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There was also a chapel of Mount Mary, build around 1640. Local tradition has it that this was destroyed in 1738 during a Maratha raid. The statue of the virgin was recovered from the sea by fishermen and temporarily installed in St. Andrews, before being shifted to the rebuilt Mount Mary in 1761. To this day the statue is venerated and many miracles, minor and major, are attributed to the deity by all communities. In her honour, a fair is held for the duration of eight days, (starting on the Sunday following September 8th) during which pilgrims come from as far North as Vasai and as far East as Thane, to venerate at the basilica of Mount Mary's.

Related Topics:
Mount Mary - Vasai - Thane

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Bandra remained a village with plantations of rice and vegetables in the low-lying areas of the island until getting connected to Mahim by a causeway in 1845. Although many bungalows were built in the boom years of the 1860s and 70s, the fashionable Pali Hill area, now full of film stars, saw the first constructions only in the 1880s.

Related Topics:
Mahim - 1860 - Pali Hill - 1880

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R D National College was originally set up in 1922 in Hyderabad, Pakistan under the guidance of Dr. Annie Besant. After the partition of India, it was set up again, in 1949, in Bandra.

Related Topics:
1922 - Hyderabad, Pakistan - Annie Besant - Partition of India - 1949

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Bandra (West) had became one of the more fashionable suburbs by the middle of the 20th century. Bandra (East) is regarded as a commercial area, consisting of the Bandra-Kurla Commercial Complex.

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