When the British acquired the seven islands of Bombay from the Portuguese that Catherine of Braganza brought as part of her marriage dowry to Charles II of England, the East India Company rented them from the British government and shifted their headquarters from Surat to Mumbai. The Company realised Mumbai's potential as a port city and embarked on projects to reclaim land from the sea, building roads to join the seven separate islands — this, we know, is how modern Mumbai was born. But what did the city look like then? What was the extent of the metropolis and what was the size and route of the roads? Where were the important buildings located? For these answers, a treasure of the historian is a map. Each map from another era becomes a document of history, telling stories of the time.

Plan of Bombay, Colaba and Sion