Pydownie Street, Bombay (Mumbai)

Although unidentified, this vibrant street scene of an Indian city is likely a view of Bombay (now Mumbai). Horse-drawn streetcars were first successfully introduced in India at Bombay in 1874. This photograph must have been taken before 1907, the year in which electric streetcars replaced horse-drawn ones. Gas street lighting had appeared in the city in 1865. The main thoroughfare in the Bhendi Bazar neighborhood was among the few streets illuminated first; it was also on the streetcar route. The signage on storefronts (for example, "Boyd's Ice," on the left) is in both Gujarati and English. Bombay's urban development during the 1860s illustrates the interconnectedness and global reach of colonial politics and economics. For instance, the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861 temporarily cut off Britain's supply of raw cotton. Britain then turned to India for its cotton resources, which led to an economic boom in India. Speculations and investments in the cotton trade by Bombay businessmen during this period created new fortunes that eventually filtered into city projects such as street lighting, a streetcar system, new public buildings and educational institutions.