Bombay Place-Names and Street-Names; an Excursion Into The
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\\\1 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2008 with funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/bombayplacenamesOOsheprich Bombay Place<Names and Street^Names* An Excursion into the by-ways of the history of Bombay City By Samuel T» Sheppard AUTHOR OF "THE BYCULLA CLUB: 1833-1916." Bombay: The Times Press, 1917 ( / c JOAN STACK 3^ PREFACE /^/^ This little book has been many years in preparanon, and is at kst published only because no one else appears to have deVoted sufficient time and attention to a subject of which only the fringe has here been touched and which seems to me to be of interest and some importance. A book of this kind ought really to be published only after prolonged research into old leases and de^ds. That is beyond my powers but I have none the less thought my less recondite work may be of service. It has steadily grown in scope since I started it as an inquiry into the reason why various English surnames have been given to Bombay roads, but the development has only been possible with the assistance of many gentlemen who have the gift of tongues which has been denied to the author-compiler. Among the many friends whom I have to thank for valued assistance are the Hon. Mr. P. K. Cadell, Mr. S. M. Edwardes (from whose writings also I have freely stolen), Mr. J. P. Orr, the Rev. E. R. Hull, S.J., Mr. R. P. Karkaria, Dr. Jivanji Jam- shedji Modi, Mr. R. P. Masani, Rao Bahadur P. B. Joshi, and Mr. Kaikhushroo Pestonji Bhedwar. Mr. Karkaria in parti- cular has been of great assistance to me and has taken the trouble to visit many streets where the origin of the names was doubtful. The method followed needs some explanation. When only one theory is put forward to account for the origin of a name I have not as a rule stated from whom that theory has been obtained, and by this means, if I appear to gain the credit for many ingenious derivations, I can also bear the blame for any grievous faults that may have crept in. When my authorities have conflicted I have usually stated who they are, and the public which pays its money for the book may take its choice as to which derivation is likely to be the more correct. If any family history has been, misrepresented I offer my apologies in advance to any who may feel hurt, for I have not wilfully put- down anything intended to reflect on anyone's ancestry or history. S. T. S. 061 » « • . BOMBAY PLACE-NAMES • It is remarkable that the scheme for a statistical account of *Bombay quoted as an appendix to Vol. I. of the late Sir J. M. Campbell's " Bombay Town and Island Materials," while proposing the collection of many details about the roads, makes no allusion to the names of roads. Under the heading of Bridges, however, in that scheme " name and origin of name " are included among other points of interest to be discovered, and in the more recent Gazetteer of Bombay City and Island, by Mr. S. M. Edwardes, considerable attention has been paid to the general subject of names. But the scope of the Gazetteer did not permit of anything like a full investigation of this by- way of history, and it is hoped that the following pages may be found of some service both by students of Bombay history and by those augtist bodies which have to consider the problem of naming and renaming the streets and roads of the City. The author is conscious of the fact that in many cases the explanation here offered of the origin of a name is open to objec- tion on historical or etymological grounds. But books on place-names always contain a good deal of fiction. Canon " Taylor, for example, in his entertaining " Words and Places blindly accepts the " good bay " derivation of Bombay which is generally acknowledged to be no more than ingenious fiction. No pretence is made that the following pages are free from fantasy or error, but the compiler will be well satisfied if his critics will join him in the etymological chase. " In all ages," writes Mr. Edward Thomas in the introduction to a recent ' edition of Canon Taylor's book, ''place names have been favourite beasts of the chase. They are noble game, and they have given marvellous sport. They continue to do so and genera- tion after generation they survive to fascinate and elude us." In Bombay the sport is still rather uncommon. When it has more devotees there will be found more consideration in giving names. For some reason or other, in many places besides Bombay, the importance of names has come to be ignored, they are bestowed and discarded for the most inadequate reasons, and — 2 BOMBAY PLACE-NAMES. when they survive—either as personal names or place -nkmes th^ir origin is often forgotten. It is convenient and not wholly unjust to blame the Church for this state of affairs. The first two questions in the Catechism contained in the IJ6ok — " of Common Prayer are : " What is your Name ?" and Who gave you this Name ?" The Catechist, having so far satisfied his curiosity, goes on to ask a number of other questions, but unaccountably omits to inquire "Why did your Godfathers' and Godmothers choose that name for you?" The omission may be explicable on the ground that no feminine hand had a share in the compilation of the Catechism : a Betsey Trotwood* would have put the question in the most searching manner and would probably have expressed her opinion on the suitabi- lity of the name with no fittle ferocity. Even the male authors of the Catechism might have been expected to know better the value and importance of names. Solomon observed that " a good name is rather to be chosen than great riches " and it is indeed to a learned divine, Lawrence Sterne, that mankind is indebted for the locus classicus on this subject (Tristram Shandy : Chapter XIX). The Shandean philosophy was as " follows : There was a strange kind of magic bias, which " good or bad names, as he called them, irresistibly impressed "upon our characters and conduct. How many Caesars " and Pompeys, he would say, by mere inspiration of the names ** have been rendered worthy of them ? And how many, he " would add, are there, who might have done exceeding well " in the world, had not their characters and spirits been totally " depressed and Nicodemus'd into nothing ? " It was this passage which inspired R. L. Stevenson with the idea of his essay on *' The Philosophy of Nomenclature." He adds little of value to what Sterne said, but his conclusion is worth quoting : " But, reader," he says, " the day will come, I hope, when a "paternal government will stamp out, as seeds of national " weakness, all depressing patronymics, and when godfathers * " In the name of Heaven," said Miss Betsey, suddenly, " why Rookery ?" " Do you mean the house, ma'am ?" asked my mother. " Why Rookery?*' said Miss Betsey. " Cookery would have been more to the purpose, if you had had any practical ideas of life, either of you." '* The name was Mr. Copperfield's choice," returned my mother. " When he bought the house, he liked to think that there were rooks about it " "David Copperfield all over !" cried Miss Betsey. " David Copperfield from head to foot. Calls a house a rookery when there's not a rook near it, and takes the birds on trust, because he sees the nests !" BOMBAY PLACE-NAMES. *" and godmothers will soberly and earnestly debate the interest " of the nameless one, and not rush blindfold to the christening." In another essay on " The English Admirals," Steven^n " writ* : Most men of high destinies have high sounding names. T*yiA and Habakkuk may do pretty well, but they must not think to cope with the Cromwells and Isaiahs. And you could not find a better case in point than that of the English Admirals." • But the importance of a good and appropriate name had been recognised in much earlier times. For example, Camden's " Remaines concerning Britaine " (published 1605) has an entertaining little discourse on the subject. Plato, he says, " might seeme, not without cause, to advise men to be careful in giving faire and happy names : as the Pythagoreans affirmed the minds, actions, and successes of men to be according to their Fate, Genius, and Name. One also well observeth that these seven things : Virtue, good Parentage, Wealth, Dignity, or Office, good Presence, a good Christian name, with a gracious Surname, and seemely attire, do especially grace and adorne a man .... As the common Proverb, Bonum nomen, bonum omen," That proverb has not always been borne in mind in Bombay, as the following pages will show. There has aot often been noticeable here the "touch of names," though many legeiids and not a little history have been handed down from generation to generation in the place-names and street-names of the city. But the majority of names are dull, unimaginative, and remmiscent of dull people of no account. There is little here comparable with the fanciful beauty of many names in Burma.* * **I am now at Thayetmyo, Mango-Town. And that reminds me how pretty and significant are the names of places in Burma. There are, for in- stance, all the Golden places. Shwe-le, the Golden Boat, Shwebo, the Golden Mister, Shwegu, the Golden cave, Shwedaung, the hill of gold, Shwelamig, the Golden canoe, Shwenyaungbin, the Golden Banian tree.