HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

The area that is now Byculla was part of the low-lying Flats into which the sea poured at high
tide through the the Great Breach at Mahalaxmi. With the closing of this Breach by the
Hornby Vellard in 1784, and the construction of the causeway known as the Bellasis Road in
1793, this land became available for building. The European enclave in Mazagaon then
began to grow westwards into Byculla. A race course was founded and became so popular
that the Bombay Turf Club was established in 1800.

During the nineteenth century, Byculla grew into a prosperous and elegant suburb, with
grand British and Parsi houses. Sir David Sassoon built a house and a synagogue here. When
the Byculla Club opened in 1833 it was the first of Bombay's residential clubs. In the same
year a new church was completed, with neo-classical columns left over from those imported
for the town hall. This immediately became the fashionable church for the British, totally
eclipsing St. Thomas' in the Fort area.

By 1857, the Byculla railway station was completed, and the first mills were already polluting
the clear air of this fashionable district. The Byculla Iron Works was established in the same
year, and limps along even today. Carriage and furniture makers moved into the area, and
established themselves near the railway station, where there was already a flourishing fruits
and vegetables market.

In 1878 the first races were held at the site of the present race-course in Mahalaxmi. The
decline of Byculla had begun, although chambers at the club were still much sought-after,
with its Rs. 350 a month charge, including dinners that featured prawn curry and the Byculla
Souffle, full of liqueurs. The Turf Club moved out of Byculla in the 1890's. Then the plague
finally drove the British and the richer Parsis to the newly fashionable Malabar Hill.

The Byculla Club doddered along, overtaken in importance by the Yacht Club at Apollo
Bunder founded in 1898. It was turned into a hospital during the First World War, and was
eventually sold in the 1920's. The area where it stood still contains some grand-looking
buildings.

Byculla is now a lower-middle class enclave with a large Muslim population. Unlike the more
crowded areas to the west and south, it still retains a charming air of genteel decay. The
furniture shops attract as much crowd as the Victoria Gardens with its congested zoo, visited
every weekend by large numbers of middle-class families out on a Sunday picnic. On such
days the statue of Edward VIII at the entrance gets the attention which it must have been
used to while it stood in the Fort area and gave its name to Kala Ghoda.
LANDMARK AND NODE ANALYSIS
GLORIA CHURCHByculla also houses Gloria Church, the church frequented
by most local Christians. The Church shares a common playing ground with Antonio D'Souza
High School which was built in 1825.

BYCULLA MARKETThe Byculla Vegetable Market is the largest vegetable

market in Mumbai (even larger than Crawford Market).

BYCULLA STATIONByculla was one of the original stations when the

Bombay-Thane railway was inaugurated in April 1853. It had been built as a wooden
structure the year before, but took on its current form in 1857.[1] This makes the current
building the oldest station in India.

BYCULLA CLUBThe Byculla Club opened in 1833 as the first of Bombay’s residential
clubs serving the British residents of the prosperous and elegant suburb of Byculla. It was later
overtaken in popularity by the Yacht Club at Apollo Bunder, founded in 1898. During the First World
War, the building was turned into a hospital and was eventually sold in the 1920s.

https://archive.org/details/bycullaclub1833100shepuoft

RAILWAY HOSPITALthe building was actually constructed in the 1860s

– a few years after the Byculla station (1857 – ref). And the original intention was to start the
famous Elphinstone College.

Ambedkar hospital located nearby was the original Elphinstone College where he studied.
Lokmanya Tilak was felicitated once\

MASINA HOSPITALThis hospital was once David Sassoon’s home.

Sadikot shares how he fled Baghdad with a few family members and arrived in India in 1833
after he heard that the British government was giving religious freedom here. In 1864, when
he died, he was the richest man in Bombay. “In the 1800s, people built mansions; Byculla was
home to the first social club and the turf club. Sassoon’s business flourished, especially with
the opium trade. He built schools, hospitals and funded the Dr Bhau Daji Lad Museum,”
shares Sadikot who was previously curator, at the museum.