Why Focus on Mumbai's Religious identity?

the center of the map focuses on Muslim communties due to the increasing tensions between religious groups

interaction between Muslim and Parsis communities is monitored in order to prepare for potential incidents of crime

the focus on forts allowed for military and police to work together in cases of potential public emergency in which extracurricular force would be used against criminal activity

the focus on forts allowed for military and police to work together in cases of potential public emergency in which extracurricular force would be used against criminal activity

government buildings were highlighted in order to be aware of potential safe zones and centers of correction

government buildings were highlighted in order to be aware of potential safe zones and centers of correction

The map of the native town of Bombay (Vacher), created in 1855, is particularly unique when contrasted with maps dated in the 19^th century. While the focus of the city during the mid-19th century was promoting an image of development rivaling that of great Western cities, the Vacher map takes upon itself a different task. The increasing number of religious-based riots served as a potential public threat that threatened the livelihood of Southern Mumbai's citizens. The map depicts the location of religious communities that existed in Southern Mumbai at the time of these riots, a depiction that police officers made useful be identifying possible sources of conflict. 

The creators of the map, Vacher & Sons who were stationers in London, intended for the map to be used primarily for police purposes. The reasoning behind this is not made explicitly clear in the map, but the division between religious identities suggests that police required a nuance depiction of where specific religious communities resided to maintain distanced surveillance of the communities’ activities.

The center of the map contains a heavily dense concentration of mosques, indicating that the map intends to focus on the concentration of the Muslim community and their activities. The purpose behind this focus on Muslim communities lies in the riots that took place in the early 1850s between Muslims and Parsee communities. Feeling provoked by Parsee media outlets that published stories on Muslim prophets and entertainment performances that highlighted ethically controversial Muslim practices, a slew of Muslim-led riots arose in Mumbai as a response to the aggravation caused by Parsee-biased outlets (Palsetia). The riots were cause for critical concern of the safety of the city’s inhabitants and the property of private and public organizations. Mapping the different locations of mosques, and realizing the concentration of the mosques in the center of the map indicates that police were made aware of the densely Muslim inhabited communities. In addition, Muslim and Parsis communities in close proximities are located near the center of the map, indicating a focus on such regions. This allowed for police to direct their focus on more ideologically tense areas. Maintaining surveillance of these communities allowed for the police to become aware of potential threats to the city’s citizens’ overall safety.

It is pertinent to acknowledge the more unrestrained focus on religious denominations that are not Muslim or Parsee. The Christian churches are located mostly on the edges of the map, indicating that the police’s focus is not on the activities of the Christian communities. 

Another focus of the map is the various government-run buildings that included hospitals, jails, schools, and courts. Being aware of these buildings, particularly the jails and hospitals, police could identify potential centers of correction in addition to safe havens for citizens in the event of massive riots that threatened the lives of innocent bystanders.

The inclusion of forts is crucial to understanding the context of this map’s creation seeing as they are places of military activity; the potential use of military force to deescalate violence between opposing religious groups was a factor that the police likely would have been interested in using as a last resort to maintain lawful order of city property.

With no historical evidence existing of damage done to the water tanks that existed in the city, structures that helped maintain daily life in a region with droughts and clean water shortages (Government, 1854), their prominent inclusion initially can be confusing to anyone analyzing the map. No explicit reasons exist for this, yet a possible answer may be that police were made aware of locations of the tanks in the case of emergencies in which water needed to be utilized towards potential fires being created by rioters. 

Map of the native town of Bombay, completed to 1855. [London: Vacher & Sons, Stationers, 1855] Map. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <https://www.loc.gov/item/2015588078/>. (Vacher, 1855)

Palsetia, Jesse S. The Parsis of India: Preservation of Identity in Bombay City. Leiden, Brill, 2001. pages 187-193 (Palsetia)

Selections from the Records of the Bombay Government. Mumbai, Indaia, Government at the Bombay Education Society's Press, 1854. pages 35-39 (Government, 1854)