History of the Parsis : including their manners, customs, religion and present position : with coloured and other illustrations : in two volumes

48 AISTORY OF THE PARSTS. [CHAP. II.

—Kavasji Jehangir Readymoney—Mr. Woolner’s statue of him—Edalji Framji Albless—Framji Nasarvanji Patel—Kharshedji Fardunji Parakh —The Flora Fountain in Bombay.

Tue Parsis came and settled in Bombay, where they

are mostly congregated at the present day, a little

before the island was ceded to the British by the

King of Portugal as the dowry of Catherine, Prin-

cess of Braganza, when she married Charles II.

of England in the year 1668. ‘There is no doubt on

the point that they arrived in Bombay before the

British had taken possession of it, because we find

that in 1665 one Kharshedji Pochaji Panday’ con-

tracted with the Portuguese authorities for the supply of men and materials for the building of the fortifications. The extensive nature of the contract can only be judged by those who have seen these fortifications and the fort walls. After the lapse of two centuries they were considered by the British Government to be useless for offensive or defensive purposes. The walls round the fort were pulled down only twenty years ago to afford increased accommodation to the city. The stately puble buildings which now stand on the esplanade and add to the grand and beautiful appearance of Bombay occupy the site of the old rampart walls. Following the plan adopted in the last chapter in 1 This gentleman was the great-great-grandfather of Mr. Mervanji

Framji Panday, of whom a notice will be found hereafter in this chapter.