Salsette Island: Difference between revisions

'''Salsette Island''' (Portuguese: Salsete, Maharashtri Konkani: साष्टी, sāṣṭī, Sashti) is an [[island]] in [[Konkan division]] of the state of [[Maharashtra]], onalong [[coast of India|India]]'s west coast]]. Administratively known as Greater Mumbai (Greater Bombay), the [[Mumbai City district|city district]] of [[Mumbai]], [[Mumbai Suburban district]], [[Mira Bhayander]], and a portion of [[Thane district]] lie within it, making it very [[list of islands by population|populous]] and one of the [[list of islands by population density|most densely populated islands in the world]]. It has a population of more than 20 million inhabitants living on an area of about {{convert| 619|km2}}.{{cn|date=January 2022}}

109 [[Buddhist]] caves, including those at Kanheri, can be found on the island, and date from the end of the 2nd century.<ref>{{cite book|author=Alexander Kyd Nairne|title=History of the Konkan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nzPCcILP-XwC&pg=PA9|year=1894|publisher=Asian Educational Services|isbn=978-81-206-0275-5|page=9}}</ref> Salsette was ruled by a succession of Hindu kingdoms, the last of which were the [[Silhara dynasty|Silharas]] and later the [[Maratha Empire|Maratha]]s. In 1343, the islands were annexed by the [[Sultan of Guzerat]]. In 1534, the [[Portuguese empire]] seized the islands from Sultan [[Bahadur Shah of Gujarat|Bahadur Shah]]. Sashti became part of the northern province of [[Portuguese India]], which was governed from [[Vasai (Bassein)]] on the north shore of Bassein Creek. It was leased to [[Domthe (title)]]explorer [[Diogo Rodrigues]] from 25 October, 1535 to 1548. In 1554, the islands were handed over to [[Garcia de Orta]], a renowned physician and botanist and the author of ''Colloquies on the Simples, Drugs and MateriaMedical MedicaMatter of India'', a seminal work on Indian [[Eastern medicine]] of its time.

On the island of Mazagaon, the Jesuits had set up base claiming the land. The Portuguese king refused to entertain their claim and in 1572 permanently leased the island to the de Souza e de Lima family. By now, there was a large Roman Catholic population. The Portuguese also brought with them African slaves known as "Kaffirs"{{dubious|date=October 2021}}, who soon entered the ethnic mix of the people. The [[Portuguese East Indies]] had their capital in [[Old Goa]], which lay south of the Bombay islands in India. Goa was then known as the "Rome of the East" due to its prominence, the islands were never important to the Portuguese.{{cn|date=February 2022}} Nine churches were built on Salsette island by the Portuguese; Nirmal (1557), Nossa Senhora dos Remédios (1557), Sandor (1566), Agashi (1568), Nandakal (1573), Papdy (1574), Pale (1595), Manickpur (1606), &and Nossa Senhora das Mercês (1606). The [[St. Andrew's Church, Mumbai|St. Andrews Church]] and the [[Mount Mary Church|Mount St Mary's BasilicaChurch]] in Bandra, the Cross at [[Cross Maidan]], [[Gloria Church]] (1632) in Mazagaon and the remnants of a church in Santa Cruz are the sole places of worship that have survived tillto the 21st todaycentury.

In 1661, the seven Bombay (Mumbai) islets were ceded to [[United Kingdom|Britain]] as part of the [[marriage Treaty|dowry]] of [[Catherine de Braganza]] to [[Charles II of England]]; while Salsette remained in Portuguese hands. Charles II in turn, leased the Bombay islets to the [[English East India Company]] in 1668 for £10 per year. The company found the deep harbour at [[Mumbai (Bombay)]] eminently apposite, and the population rose from 10,000 in 1661 to 60,000 by 1675. In 1687, the East India Company transferred their headquarters there from [[Surat]]. In 1737, the island was captured by theMahratta [[Maratha]]sviolence, all of the Portuguese northern province ofin KonkanIndia, except [[Damaon, Diu & Silvassa]], as it was frequently invaded by the MarathaMahratta navyforces and army inuntil 1739,. [[Marquis de Pombal]] formally ceded [[what would become Greater Bombay]], to the [[PeshvaPeshwa]] ruler[[Balaji Baji Rao|Balaji Bajirao]] of the [[MarathaMahratta EmpireConfederacy]] in the 1750s.

The British occupied Salsette in 1774,<ref name=Naravane>{{Cite book |last=Naravane |first=M.S. |title=Battles of the Honorourable East India Company |publisher=A.P.H. Publishing Corporation |year=2014 |isbn=9788131300343 |pages=53}}</ref> and it was formally ceded to the East India Company in the 1782 [[Treaty of Salbai]]. In 1782, [[William Hornby (governor)|William Hornby]], then Governor of [[Bombay Province]], initiated the project of connecting the islets of Bombay. By 1845, the seven southern islands had been connected to form [[South MumbaiBombay]], with an area of 435&nbsp;km². Railway viaducts and causeways were built in the 19th century to connect Bombay Island to the mainland via Salsette. The channels separating Mumbai from Salsette and Trombay were bridged by the [[Sion Causeway]] in 1803.<ref>{{cite book|author=Alexander Kyd Nairne|title=History of the Konkan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nzPCcILP-XwC&pg=PA124|year=1894|publisher=Asian Educational Services|isbn=978-81-206-0275-5|page=124}}</ref> Accessibility considerably increased after construction of this causeway.<ref>{{cite book|author=Anne Bulley|title=The Bombay Country Ships, 1790-1833|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XEAVlScUWjwC&pg=PA99|year=2000|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=978-0-7007-1236-6|page=99}}</ref> Mahim and Bandra were connected by the [[Mahim Causeway]] in 1845.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dancewithshadows.com/mumbai_history.asp|title=City by the sea|access-date=24 March 2012|work=Dance with Shadows.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040911080938/http://www.dancewithshadows.com/mumbai_history.asp|archive-date=11 September 2004|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

These railway lines and roads encouraged wealthier merchants to build villas on Salsette. By 1901, the population of Salsette had increased to 146,993 and the area began to be referred to as [[Greater Bombay]].

Salsette is dominated by a central mass of hills surrounded by tidal flats. A number of much smaller islands lay on its western flank. These included [[Bandra]], [[Khar Danda]], [[Juhu]] (an old linear sand bar rising above sea level by just a metre or two), [[Versova (Mumbai)|Versova]], [[Marve Island]], [[Gorai|Dharavi Island]] and Rai Murdhe, all with a [[hillock|knoll]] core and fringing wave-cut platforms and sandy beaches. These islands seem to have remained separate until as late as 1808.

At the time of writing of the old Gazetteer of Thana in 1882, these islands could be reached during low tides by walking across the tidal inlets in between, except for the island of Dharavi in present-day [[Gorai]] (not to be confused with the slum near Mahim), which had to be reached by a boat. These are no longer separate, being joined to Salsette via reclamation. The highest point is the conical peak of Kanheri (467 metres) in [[Borivali National Park]] on the northern reaches of the island.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cultural.maharashtra.gov.in/english/gazetteer/greater_bombay/general.html#1| title= Geography - Salsette group of Islands|access-date=25 March 2012|work= Maharashtra State Gazetteer, Greater Bombay district |year=1987}}</ref> This [[national park]] is the world's biggest within city limits.

The island is at the confluence of a number of fault lines.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://theory.tifr.res.in/bombay/physical/fault.html| title=The Seismic environment of Mumbai|access-date=24 March 2012|work= Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai}}</ref> This makes the area [[earthquake]]-prone, up to a magnitude of 6. The island is mostly composed of black [[basalt]] rock. Since it is along the sea coast, it has a sandy belt on its western coast. The southern region of Old Mumbai is mostly at sea level. However, the parts which were erstwhile shallows are below sea level. Many parts of the city are hilly.{{cn|date=March 2024}}