Bombay Before the British: The Indo-Portuguese Layer

Bombay Before the British (BBB) was a three-year research project in the fields of History of Architecture and History of Urbanism, funded by the Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education through its Science and Technology Foundation (FCT). The funding for the project began in September 2004 and ended in December 2007, when a final report was submitted containing the project's main conclusions. This report received the highest mark by FCT's evaluating panel. Both senior investigators of the "BBB", Dr. Walter Rossa and Dr. Paulo Varela Gomes, were and are professors at the Architecture Department, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, University of Coimbra (Portugal). The project's main object of study was the territory of Greater Bombay (Mumbai) and its surrounding hinterland (Greater Bombay Metropolitan Area) during the time of Portuguese colonial rule (1534–1739) in the territory that was known as the Baçaim (Vasai) District of the Northern Province of Portuguese India, "Northern" in relation to Velha Goa. In 1997, Dr. Walter Rossa's book "Indo-portuguese Cities" was published by the Portuguese Discoveries Celebrations Committee (CNCDP). The following year, Dr. Rossa coordinated the topographical survey of the ruins of the Baçaim (Vasai). During this period (1996–1998), Dr. Paulo Varela Gomes was the delegate of the Oriente Foundation's branch in India (Goa). In 2000, both of them travelled to the area of Greater Mumbai, together with the second-year students of the Department of Architecture, University of Coimbra, visiting many of the historical sites pertaining to the territory's Indo-Portuguese layer. The research possibilities developed during this trip and the recent scholarly activity of both Rossa and Gomes led up to the proposal for a three-year scientific research project - the "BBB" The Portuguese presence in the Baçaim (Vasai) District of the Northern Province between 1534 and 1739 - which included the present day region of Greater Mumbai - has left considerable traces on the present-day territory.