Nineteenth Century Writings in English on Western India

Abstract

There were well known newspapers in early nineteenth century Bombay, associated with reformers and political leaders, like the Anglo-Marathi, Bombay Durpun, edited by Bal Shastri Jambhekar and the Anglo-Gujarati Rast Goftar, edited by Dadabhai Naoroji and Nowrozjee Furdoonjee. The aim of this article is not to review newspapers, which are rich primary source materials, but to explore little known writings in English, both by British and Indian writers, published in the years before 1867, when the Books and Newspapers Registration Act came into existence. The focus here is on a cross section of writings and includes works on commerce, almanacs, descriptions of Bombay and its peoples, travel accounts and books on naturalia and medicine, memorials and appeals. These could be of great utility in corroborating and supplementing information provided in the official records, as they are contemporary. Also examined and of significance, are essays written by students of Elphinstone Institution, some of whom became prominent in the later years of the century in the social reform and national movements.