Dickinson Survey
The first comprehensive topographical survey of Bombay Island city Lieutenant Thomas Dickinson undertook the revenue survey of Bombay town and island starting in the year 1812. Dickinson, revenue surveyor of Bombay and Salsette had an establishment D ickinson’s plan included the drawing of a map on the scale of 40 ft : 1 inch or 100 ft : 1 inch which would exhibit the contents and boundaries of each property, as well as of every species of property, such as, buildings, gardens, trees and fields. Its total duration was thus 17 years. The Fort, the New and Old Towns were surveyed in considerable detail and the work plotted on a scale of 40 feet to an inch. The remainder of the Bombay division including Colaba, Malabar bill, Cumballa hill and Mazagon were also surveyed in detail, the boundaries of the properties were carefully determined and the work was plotted on various scales chiefly on that of 100 feet to one inch. The remainder of the island was only topographically surveyed and only the outlines of the different tenures were shown. This was plotted on a scale of 300 feet to the inch. The cost of this, survey, as far as can be ascertained, was Rs. 1,63,000. Registers of private property of such parts of the island as were surveyed were made in detail. They are all extant as are also most of the maps and plans. The operations of this Revenue Survey brought to light numerous encroachments and instances of the enjoyment of lands by individuals without payment of rent. Gazetter
According to Marriam Dossal, Dickinson's "scientific" mapping of Bombay's lands, topography and properties had an avowed political objective - to "assert the State's rights to all lands in Bombay" (79, 97) and recover lost rents and rights, and establish titles by conversion of multiple tenures into freehold or "fee simple" private property. Completed over sixteen years, and containing registers, cadastral maps, rent rolls and reports on localities, Dickinson's survey created the first accurate "base map" of British Bombay, permanently altering the the terms of tenancy and occupation in the city after 1827 Dickinson took over the work of the revenue survey in 1811 after the failure of earlier efforts due to rioting by Bhandaris against increases in the toddy tax (abkaree) -
Lieutenant Gordon and Ramon were appointed as assistants to Dickinson. The work of the Survey also involved defining property boundaries and settling contentious claim s over individual properties. The areas he surveyed included Fort, Colaba, Old Woman's Island, Mazgaon, Parel, The main objective of the Survey was to establish clear titles in land for the colonial state. Notional rights were to be made realisable and the opposition of the local inhabitants to be put down firmly.
The sixteen-year survey of the eighteen square miles of Bombay town and island produced voluminous correspondence in the form o f inward and outward registers, a census for the Fort district, maps drawn on the scale o f 40': 1“ for the densely built up parts of the town and 100': 1" for the rest of the island, along with rent rolls and detailed survey reports after a particular locality had been surveyed. The prepared plans delineated the boundaries of properties and indicated whether they were residential buildings, outhouses, warehouses, gardens, or agricultural lands. The survey was to be accurate and maximize revenue as well as provide the authorities with detailed information on land use and land tides. It also served an important political purpose, for Dickinson claimed all Bombay lands as lands owned by the East India Company. Dickinson was transferred in 1825 and the Bombay Revenue Survey was carried on by his assistant Captain Tate and came to an end in 1827.
For Further Reading: Gazetter of Bombay, 1909 Volume II Theatre of Conflict, City of Hope
