Magazine 2012
Colonial Sanitarium in Mahableshwar  
Hill Station: Governorb s Summer Residence  
Dr. Louiza Rodrgues  
Ruia College, Matunga  
During the colonial period, Mahableshwar developed as one of the major hill stations in western India which  
catered primarily for the Bombay clientele. Apart from European troops, the main patrons and beneficiaries of  
the hill station were the women and to a lesser extent, the children of the colonial community and along with  
them the elite Indians.  
The paper shows how within the power structure of colonialism, the British succeeded in establishing a unique  
environment on the hill station of Mahableshwar. This hill station became a distinctive form of colonial urban  
development particularly, the Governorb s summer residence. In the post colonial period too, Mahableshwar,  
continued to be the Bombay Governorb s summer residence.  
The governorb s bungalows at Mahableshwar symbolize historical buildings and confluence of the eastern and  
western cultures. They played a pivotal role in the history of India in general and that of Mumbai in particular.  
Today, its colonial setting is a reminder of a significant phase of this history.  
Mahableshwar is located in the Sahyadri range at an altitude of 4718 feet and takes its name from an ancient  
Shiva temple at old Mahableshwar connoting Maha+Bala+Iswara that is God of Great strength.  
Its other identity lies in its origin of a major river in the Deccan, the Krishna. In the vicinity of Mahableshwar is  
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the fort of Pratapgadh. During the colonial period, Mahableshwar developed as one of the major hill station in  
western India which catered primarily for a Bombay clientele. Apart from European troops, the main patrons of  
the hill station were the women and to a lesser extent, the children of the colonial community and elite Indians.  
Development of the Hill Station at Mahableshwar  
The main characteristic of the hill station was the temporary patronage of its occupants. The annual influx of  
inhabitants to this hill station stayed for a period of between one and seven months, to escape the excessive  
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temperatures on b the plainsb . Due to concurrent famines in the nineteenth century, Indiab s climate was generally  
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considered incompatible with European constitutions. The belief was that climate exerted a powerful influence  
on human character and physical characteristics. The British assumption was that Europeans were incapable  
of becoming fully acclimatized to the subcontinent. Europeans thrived best in climates that most resembled  
the cold climate of British. Hence relatively healthy localities had to be identified for the British especially, for  
the White troops. Hence British troops should be quartered away from the plains where they fell ill in large  
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numbers and shifted to the hills for the benefit of health. In his fascinating account of b Ecological Imperialism:  
The biological expansion of Europe 1400-1900, 1986, Alfred Crosby remarked: b The rule(not the law) is that  
although European may conquer the tropics, they do not Europeanize the tropics, not even countryside with  
European temperaturesb .  
As climate became an important feature to European existence, one of the prime objective of the Anglo- Indian  
medical practitioners in the first half of the nineteenth century was to identify localities suitable for European  
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habitation. Hence medical topography gained importance. The hill station was thus a social response to the  
colonial settlement on b the plainsb . The beautiful shrubs and flowering plants, thick forests, the cold weather,  
the fog, the mist at Mahableshwar resembled the home town of the British residents. Hence, Mahableshwar Hill  
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station also attracted British residents in Bombay. H. Birdwood,  
b 
b 
The Hill Forests of Western India  
, H.Phipson, A.W.S Millard, (ed.),  
The Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society  
Vol. XII, No 4.,Times of India Steam Press, Bombay, 1899, p.671.  
,
The hill station was also was a form of socio-spatial organization peculiar to colonial urban development. There  
members of the colonial community were separated from the population they knew as b nativesb , in the hillsb . The  
European occupants of the bungalow, had neither social nor religious ties with the inhabitants of the Indian  
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town. Their relationship was one of b ruler and the ruledb . The establishment of resorts served to extend a  
system of social stratification and residential differentiation.  
(180)  
The third cultural reason behind the development of the hill station was the particular ethnomedical beliefs of  
the colonial society which held that certain diseases, particularly cholera, malaria and typhoid were less likely  
to occur in the elevated regions of the hill station. By the mid 1830b ss, the medical service became increasingly  
concerned about the rise of these diseases especially in Calcutta, the political capital, because of an increasing  
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medical interest in epidemiology and the connections between water supply and disease transmission. The  
principal assumption of the British medical authorities was that high and fluctuating temperature, high humidity  
and exposure to intense sunlight weakened the constitutions of the Europeans who were not designed for warm  
climates. By mid nineteenth century, the medical texts argued that excessive heat disrupted normal circulation  
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and reduced metabolism of the stomach and liver. These hill stations began as b health sanitariab . Lastly the  
technological factor, the construction of roads and the establishment of the railways in the mid nineteenth  
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century allowed the aspirations of the colonial people to be realized to greater effect.  
Historical Background  
Charles Malet, the English Resident at the court of Sawai Madhavrao Peshwa, was one of the first European to  
set foot on the Mahableshwar hill, but its importance as a health resort was noticed by Major Lodwick in 1824  
st  
in the Bombay Courier of 1 May 1824. Lodwick concluded with a positive assertion:  
b 
There is abundant room for several parties who may be near  
or distant from each other and Mahabillysir is capable of becoming  
from its centrical situation the resource of all who are in search of  
health, of pleasure, or of retirement, without much fear of  
disappointment and with power of returning home immediately,  
should duty call or expectation not be gratifiedb .  
Lodwick did not forget to reassure: b Neither tigers nor thieves are to be feared; we neither saw nor heard of any  
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during our stayb .  
Following Lodwick, it was Colonel Briggs, Resident of Satara, who took keen interest in developing Mahabaleshwar  
as a sanatorium for the Bombay Presidency and persuaded Raja Pratapsingh of Satara to construct a road  
between Satara and Mahableshwar and construct a dam on river Yenna (Venna). Briggs built for himself a  
wooden house on the Sindola hill. This house was the precursor of all future development at Mahableshwar. In  
May 1826, at the instance of Mountstuart Elphinstone, Briggs submitted a report to the Medical Board  
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recommending the construction of a hospital for ailing Europeans.  
Governorb s Bungalows at Mahableshwar  
Sir John Malcolm, who succeeded Mountstuart Elphinstone, pursued the question of the sanatorium with the  
Medical Board on the one hand and cultivated friendship with Raja of Satara which led to the establishment of  
a Market-Peth at Mahableshwar in 1828. In 1829, the plateau of Mahableshwar was acquired from the Maharaja  
of Satara in exchange of Peta Khandala in 1829. Thus the market Peth was named as Malcolm Peth after Sir  
John Malcolm. Thereafter a number of visitors grew, traders from outside were induced to open shops in the  
Peth. Finally in 1829, the Sanatoria came into existence and set a new trend in health resorts. In the same year  
Mahableshwar became the Summer residence of the Governor of Bombay when Malcolm constructed the First  
Government House on a site named after his wife-Mount Charlotte- a building that is known today as Mt.  
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Malcolm.  
However, Mount Charlotte did not remain as a Government House for long and the Government house was  
shifted to b Bohemiab  which was constructed and owned by William Newnham who was the Chief secretary to the  
Governor, Mountstuart Elphinstone and later to John Malcolm. b Bohemiab  continued as Governorb s residence  
until 1853. Thereafter, several cottages came up in Mahabaleshwar, yet none were convenient to accommodate  
other government officials. So despite the house constructed by Malcolm, some of the Governors stayed in  
rented houses along with the Council members. The Governor, Sir Bartle Frere had to persuade one of the  
Council members, the Honb ble Framjee Nusservanjee, b to add two public rooms of fair size to a bungalow, his  
property. Frereb s successor Sir Seymour Fitzgerald, stayed in a rented house where his own sleeping room  
cracked in every direction. Fitzgerald bought an extensive property, a house and seventy acres of land belonging  
to Rustomjee Jejeebhoy and commenced modifications of the house, where he stayed during his summer  
residence known as Bella Vista. After his term was over, in 1869 he offered it for purchase by the government  
(181)  
for a sum of 4000 pounds. It was only in 1878, b Bella Vistab  was purchased by the Government of Bombay for  
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Rs. 32,000. The Bella Vista thus finally settled as the official residence of the Governor of Bombay.  
The guests of the Governor, were usually housed in pitched tents. To accommodate these guests in a more  
comfortable place, the Government opted to take on lease a property known as b The Terracesb  which was  
owned by Lt. General William Fredrick Mariott from Mumbai. Mariott died in 1879 and the Government succeeded  
in obtaining surrender of the lease by Executors of his estate in 1884. Thus the Terraces, was assigned for the  
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Governorb s summer residence.  
Post Colonial period- Change in status of Governorb s residence  
In the post colonial period, the situation was substantially altered when the Government of India Order, 1950  
included only Bombay and Poona and omitted Mahableshwar from the schedule which deterred the State  
from providing funds for the maintenance of the Government House. In 1955 an attempt to reclaim Bella Vista  
as the Governorb s official residence was not supported by the State Government. A considerable area of the  
estate was allotted to the Tourism Department. The Governor was, however, assigned the b Terracesb  for Governorb s  
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residence, a practice that continues to this day. The house has now been christened as Giri Darshan.  
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The Governorb s bungalows are impressive. These bungalows were built on the European model of architecture.  
These bungalows were situated in a compound or open space was cordoned off from its immediate surroundings  
by a wall or fence. Although these bungalows were in European style, they were built with Indian craftsmen  
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trained to design in the novel style. The architecture of these bungalows are in Gothic style. Some of the  
characteristics of Gothic style are arches and vault, buttress, stained windows, etc. Gothic style buildings  
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expressed their purpose quite directly on their exterior form. These bungalows therefore had large open halls  
and functional areas. The legibility of function is a hall mark of the Gothic. The Gothic architecture was more  
21  
useful than elegant.  
Conclusion  
This hill station became a distinctive form of colonial urban development particularly, the Governorb s summer  
residence. In the post colonial period too, Mahableshwar, continued to be the Bombay Governorb s summer  
residence. The Governorb s bungalows at Mahableshwar symbolize historical buildings and confluence of the  
eastern and western cultures. It played a pivotal role in the history of India in general and Mumbai in particular.  
Today, its colonial setting is a reminder of a significant phase of this history The charm of these bungalows lies  
in the surrounding cluster of other precincts, their antiquity and indeed their association with personalities that  
influenced the course of history, everything that contributes to its heritage value. No doubt in this proven built  
up architecture plays an important role. At a time of increasing globalization, the protection, conservation,  
interpretation and presentation of these precincts is an important challenge.  
References  
(Endnotes)  
1
Sadashiv Gorakshkar, Raj Bhavans in Maharashtra, Government Central Press, Mumbai, 2002, p.178.  
Michael Edwardes, Bound to Exile : The Victorians in India, Sidpwick and Jackson, London, 1969, pp. 12, 91.  
2
Approximately 41,000 in the 1830b s of whom 37,000 were troops, in 1859, this had risen to 1,26,000 of whom,  
5,00 were troops, By 1930, there were approximately 1,65,000 Europeans in India, of whom 63,500 were troop  
8
s.  
3
Samita Gupta, Architecture and The Raj, B.R. Publishing Corporation, Delhi, 1985, p.79.  
4
Mark Harrison, Climate and Constitutions: Health, Race, Environment and British Imperialism in India (1600-  
850), Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 1999, p. 154.  
1
5
Kaushik Roy, b Managing the Environment: Disease, Sanitation and the Army in British India, 1859 b  1913, (Ed.)  
Ranjan Chakrabarti, Situating Environmental History, Manohar Publishers, Delhi, 2007, p. 197.  
6
Alfred Crosby, Ecological Imperialism: The Biological Expansion of Europe 900-1900, Cambridge University  
Press, Cambridge, 1986, p. 134.  
8
C.F., Anthony D King, The Bungalow: The Production of a Global Culture, Routledge & Paul, London,1984,  
p. 30.  
(182)  
9
Richard, Grove, Ecology, Climate and Empire, The Indian Legacy in Global Environmental History 1500 b   
940, OUP, Delhi, 1998, p. 71.  
1
10  
Kaushik Roy, op. cit., p. 189  
1
1
C.F., Anthony D. King., b Culture, Social Power And Environment: The Hill Station in Colonial Urban Development  
, Social Action, July-September, No. 3, Vol. 26, 1976, pp.196-208.  
b 
12  
13  
14  
15  
Sadashiv Gorakshkar, op. cit., p.177.  
G.G.Khare, A Guide to Mahableshwar, Bombay, 1933, (translated from Marathi to English), pp. 2-6.  
S. Gorakshakar, op. cit., p. 179.  
Between 1893 and 1969, Bohemia was owned by the Sassoons, the Wadias and Sir Kikabhai Premchand  
Charity Trust. In 1969 it was purchased by its present owner Pranlal Bhogilal, a distinguished connoisseur and  
owner of vintage cars. Ibid., pp. 181, 182.  
16  
17  
18  
19  
Ibid., p. 184.  
Ibid., p. 184.  
M.D David, Bombay The city of Dreams, Himalaya Publishing House, Mumbai, 1995, p. 82.  
Meera Kosambi, Bombay in Transition: The Growth and Social Ecology of a Colonial City, 1800b  1980,  
Almquist and Wiksell International, Stockholm, 1986,p. 19.  
20  
During the Victorian period (1840-1900), the Gothic Revival style was prevalent in England. Christopher. W.  
London, Bombay Gothic, India Book House pvt. Ltd., Mumbai, 2002, p. 10.  
2
1
G.B. Kunte, (ed.), The Gazetteer of Bombay City and Island, Vol. I, The Government Photozinco Press, Pune,  
977, p.194.  
1
1
Sadashiv Gorakshkar, Raj Bhavans in Maharashtra, Government Central Press, Mumbai, 2002, p.178.  
2
Michael Edwardes, Bound to Exile : The Victorians in India, Sidpwick and Jackson, London, 1969, pp. 12,  
9
1. Approximately 41,000 in the 1830b s of whom 37,000 were troops, in 1859, this had risen to 1,26,000 of  
whom, 85,00 were troops, By 1930, there were approximately 1,65,000 Europeans in India, of whom 63,500  
were troops.  
3
Samita Gupta, Architecture and The Raj, B.R. Publishing Corporation, Delhi, 1985, p.79.  
4
Mark Harrison, Climate and Constitutions: Health, Race, Environment and British Imperialism in India (1600-  
1
850), Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 1999, p. 154.  
5
Kaushik Roy, b Managing the Environment: Disease, Sanitation and the Army in British India, 1859 b  1913, (Ed.)  
Ranjan Chakrabarti, Situating Environmental History, Manohar Publishers, Delhi, 2007, p. 197.  
6
Alfred Crosby, Ecological Imperialism: The Biological Expansion of Europe 900-1900, Cambridge University  
Press, Cambridge, 1986, p. 134.  
7
H. Birdwood, b The Hill Forests of Western Indiab , H.Phipson, A.W.S Millard, (ed.), The Journal of the Bombay  
Natural History Society, Vol. XII, No 4.,Times of India Steam Press, Bombay, 1899, p.671.  
8
C.F., Anthony D King, The Bungalow: The Production of a Global Culture, Routledge & Paul, London,1984,  
p. 30.  
(183)