Bombay in the early Nineteenth Century: From the (Almost) lost diaries of Abdul Latif Shushtari

Abstract

The presence of a curious Iranian in Bombay in 1801–1804 resulted in an unpublished extensive diary, a record containing much valuable data about urban development and business relations in this harbour city. The author’s daily commentary and precise notes, compiled over the first 3 years of the nineteenth century, constitutes an unusual archive from colonial times, providing information about Bombay and its Parsis, as well as the role of Persians in the economy and politics of India under the East India Company (EIC).