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‘BOMBAY – 1924-25. A Review of the Administration of the Presidency’ [‎576v] (84/316)

The record is made up of 1 item (156 folios). It was created in 1926. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .

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44
BOMBAY, 1924-25
BOMBAY CITY POLICE
The Annual Report of the Bombay City Police showed that the year 1924
was a tranquil one. Besides the discovery and prevention of crime and
preservation of order the duties of the police included the control of traffic,
the working of the Arms Act, the Explosives and Petroleum and Poisons
Acts. These duties have in the year under report perceptibly increased.
There were besides many miscellaneous duties which entailed time and
trouble such as aid to refugees and pilgrims, enquiries as to passports and
naturalisation, censorship of plays and other performances and licensing of
theatres.
The year was practically free from any serious unrest, except for the
general mill strike which took place at the beginning of the year and lasted
from 17th January to 18th March. “ Considering the long duration of
the strike, and the number of persons out of work,” remarks the Commis
sioner of Police, “ the strikers were on the whole remarkably peaceful
and well behaved. For the first six or seven weeks no disturbance of the
peace worth mentioning occurred. On the 7th March however the
rowdy element among them took offence at a notice put up on the mills
by the Millowners’ Association that the mills would open the following
day as certain workers were willing to resume work unconditionally and
they paraded the streets in the DeLisle Road area in a threatening and
defiant manner. At one point near Curry Road Bridge a police officer
in charge of a picket was obliged to order fire as he found his party
surrounded and attacked on all sides by a howling mob. Two were killed
and three were wounded as a result of the firing ; the crowd rapidly
dispersed and that was the one and only incident of its kind. There were
also a few cases of incendiarism.” The strike while it lasted imposed a
heavy strain on the police who discharged their duties with commendable
loyalty and restraint.
There was, says the Report, the usual periodical panic about Pathans
in May and June which subsided after large numbers of Pathans had been
deported. “ During the year I had meetings with the leaders of the Pathan
community,” says the Commissioner of Police, “ and suggested to them
that in the interests of the law abiding members of their community
it would be wise for them to keep a strict check on new arrivals and give
me information of the presence of bad characters in the city with a view to
their deportation. They agreed to do so : it remains to be seen if any good
will come of it.”
The crime statistics show a considerable rise in cognizable and non-
cognizable cases since 1922. The total crime in 1922 amounted to 112,163
cases. This rose in 1923 to 122,086 and in 1924 to 133,853. As in the
year previous however the bulk of the increase was due to infractions of the
Local Acts, and is attributed to the sustained activity of the police in
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Annual administration report of the Bombay Presidency The name given to each of the three divisions of the territory of the East India Company, and later the British Raj, on the Indian subcontinent. , providing a summary record of the main events and developments in each department of the Government of Bombay From c. 1668-1858, the East India Company’s administration in the city of Bombay [Mumbai] and western India. From 1858-1947, a subdivision of the British Raj. It was responsible for British relations with the Gulf and Red Sea regions. during the financial year 1924-25. The report was printed at the Government Central Press, Bombay [Mumbai], in 1926.

The report is divided into two parts. Part I (ff 541-554) comprises a report ‘GENERAL SUMMARY’, consisting of: [Political]; Finance; Trade and Commerce; Agriculture; Department of Agriculture; Instruction; Law and Justice; Police and Crime; Bombay City Police; Public Health; Salt; Excise; Forests; Co-operative Movement; Public Works; Bombay Development Department.

PART II (ff 555-683) comprises the following headings, which are further divided into sub-headings:

  • CHAPTER I ‘INDIAN STATES.’ (ff 555-560), consisting of: I. North Gujarat; II. South Gujarat; III. North Konkan; IV. South Konkan; V. The Deccan; VI. Kolhapur and Southern Maratha Country States; VII. Sind [Sindh]; VIII. Aden; Condition of the people
  • CHAPTER II ‘ADMINISTRATION OF THE LAND.’ (ff 560-565), consisting of: Land Records; Revenue Surveys; the Record of Rights; Remissions of Revenue; System of Land Tenure; Gujarat Talukdars’ Act; Sind Incumbered Estates Act; the Court of Wards Act; Department of Land Records; Routine Measurement Work; Revenue Surveys; City Surveys; Revision Settlements
  • CHAPTER III ‘LAW AND JUSTICE.’ (ff 565-572), consisting of: the Budget; Resolutions and Questions; Course of Legislation; Administration of Justice; Civil Justice; Criminal Justice; Registration; Joint Stock Companies
  • CHAPTER IV ‘POLICE AND CRIME’ (ff 573-580), consisting of: Mofussil and Sind Police; Bombay City Police; Village Police; Aden Police; Government Male and Female Workhouses; Bombay Jails; Criminal Tribes
  • CHAPTER V ‘AGRICULTURE, WEATHER AND CROPS’ (ff 582-602), consisting of: Nature of the Crops; Outturn of the Crops; Agricultural Stock; Condition of the Agricultural Population; Department of Agriculture; Note on the Weather; Prices; Labour and Wages; Forests; Co-operative Movement; Horticulture
  • CHAPTER VI ‘TRADE AND COMMERCE’ (ff 603-624), consisting of: Industries; Department of Industries; the Factories Act; Sea-borne Trade; Foreign Trade; Foreign Merchandise; Indian Produce and Manufactures; Trade According to Countries; Shipping; Coasting Trade; Subordinate Ports of the Presidency The name given to each of the three divisions of the territory of the East India Company, and later the British Raj, on the Indian subcontinent. ; the Trade of Sind; Shipping Offices; Labour Office
  • CHAPTER VII ‘PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT’ (ff 624-634), consisting of: Irrigation; Sind; Deccan and Gujarat; Railways
  • CHAPTER VIII ‘VITAL STATISTICS AND MEDICAL RELIEF’ (ff 634-649), consisting of: [Births and Deaths]; Epidemic Diseases; Hospitals and Dispensaries; Sanitation; Vaccination; the Haffkine Institute; Veterinary; Chemical Analysers; Wild Animals and Venomous Snakes; Mental [psychiatric] Hospitals; Acworth Leper Asylum [hospital for people affected by leprosy or Hansen’s Disease], Matunga
  • CHAPTER IX ‘LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT’ (ff 650-656), consisting of: District Municipalities; Bombay Municipality; Local Board Administration; Village Panchayats; Bombay Improvement Trust; Bombay Port Trust; Karachi Port Trust; Aden Port Trust; Working of the Rent Acts
  • CHAPTER X ‘COLLECTION OF REVENUE AND FINANCIAL REVIEW’ (ff 656-670), consisting of: the Budget for 1924-25; Loan Accounts; No Revenue from Income Tax; Land Revenue; Public Works Revenue; Customs Administration; Salt Department; Excise; Cotton Duties Act; Stamps; Taxes on Income
  • CHAPTER XI ‘INSTRUCTION’ (ff 671-676), consisting of: Education; Yeravda [Yerwada or Yerawada] Reformatory; Books and Publications; Newspapers; Royal Asiatic Society, Bombay; Victoria and Albert Museum, Bombay; Prince of Wales Museum of Western India, Bombay; Natural History Section; Victoria Museum, Karachi
  • CHAPTER XII ‘ARCHAEOLOGY’ (ff 677-678), consisting of: [Archaeological Survey of India, Western Circle]
  • CHAPTER XIII ‘MISCELLANEOUS’ (ff 679-683), consisting of: Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction; the Established Church of England; the Established Church of Scotland; Stationary; Printing; Bombay Development Department; Back Bay Reclamation; Industrial Housing in Bombay; Suburban Industrial Schemes; Suburban Development; Water Supply in Salsette; Railway Schemes; Advisory Committee; Organization of the Directorate; Military (Indian Auxiliary and Territorial Forces); Prevention of Cruelty to Animals; Advances to Cultivators.

The report includes the following photographs:

  • ‘Gateway of India, Apollo Bandar, Bombay.’ (f 540)
  • ‘Large Hand Sizing Machine (suitable for a hand-loom factory An East India Company trading post. )’ (f 606)
  • ‘Group of castings made at the P. W. D. Workshops, Dapuri, Poona [Pune]. The large roller rim weighs over a ton.’ (f 625)
  • ‘Dragline Excavators for the three Right Bank Canals ex Indus at Sukkur. Ruston and Hornby’s Model No. 300, crossing the North-Western Railway line at Bagerji [Bagarji].’ (f 627)
  • ‘Dragline Excavators crossing Sukkur Canal on a bank 16 feet high, pierced with 6 ‘armco’ pipes 36” in diameter to carry the canal discharge.’ (f 629)
  • ‘Four machines ready to start on their journey to the site of work.’ (f 631)
  • ‘Lake Arthur Hill, Bhandardara Dam. Downsteam full view from south Bank.’ (f 633)
  • ‘Lloyd Barrage Circle. View of the Barrage Township at Sukkur.’ (f 635)
  • ‘Another view of the Barrage Township.’ (f 637)
  • ‘Alandi Fair–Pilgrims taking baths in the ‘Chakratirtha’’ (f 644)
  • ‘Alandi Fair–View of the pilgrims encamped on the river side from the bridge over the Indrayani River.’ (f 646)
  • ‘Alandi Fair–Lady Volunteers from the Seva Sadan, Poona, assisting the pilgrims in securing a darshan.’ (f 648)
  • ‘Salt Department. West wall of wharf at Dabhol. S. S. “Jayanti” alongside wharf, south side.’ (f 664)
  • ‘East end of wharf at Dabhol, showing landing steps and Indian Company’s office at far side.’ (f 666)
  • ‘Mohenjo-Daro (District Larkana, Sind). Well and paved baths.’ (f 676)
  • ‘Mohenjo-Daro (District Larkana, Sind). Seals with pictographic writings.’ (f 678).

There are also diagrams showing the following: ‘WAGES AND COST OF LIVING’ (f 597); ‘Chart I DEATHS IN 1924 AND PREVIOUS YEARS.’ (f 639); ‘DEATH-RATE AT AGE-PERIOD’ (f 640); ‘CHART VI - ANNUAL INCIDENCE OF DEATHS FROM EPIDEMIC DISEASES.’ (f 641); ‘CHART VII MONTHLY INCIDENCE OF DEATHS FROM EPIDEMIC DISEASES’ (f 642); ‘DISTRIBUTION OF PRINCIPAL HEADS OF REVENUE FOR THE YEAR 1924-25.’ (f 657); ‘DISTRIBUTION OF PRINCIPAL HEADS OF EXPENDITURE MET FROM REVENUE FOR THE YEAR 1924-25.’ (f 659); ‘TOTAL EXPENDITURE CHARGED TO REVENUE [1913-14 to 1924-25]’ (f 661).

There are appendices on folios 684-686, and an index on folios 687-689. There is a map of the Bombay Presidency The name given to each of the three divisions of the territory of the East India Company, and later the British Raj, on the Indian subcontinent. on folio 690.

A table of contents listing the headings and sub-headings of the report is on folios 538-539. In a small number of instances, there are discrepancies in the phrasing or inclusion of sub-headings between the table of contents and the body of the report. In these cases, the sub-heading as it appears in the body of the report is included above.

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‘BOMBAY – 1924-25. A Review of the Administration of the Presidency’ [‎576v] (84/316), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/V/10/317/4, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100152998490.0x0000a4> [accessed 18 July 2026]

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