Changes

Following the [[Battle of Kirkee]] 1817 and the defeat of the Peshwas, the Bhor Ghat road to [[Poona]] opened 1830, allowing greater access to the Deccan cotton fields. Bombay became the commercial centre of the Malwa [[Opium trade| opium trade]], and opium also became the basis for the prosperity of Bombay.<ref> [https://web.archive.org/web/20110727093134/http://www.hinduonnet.com:80/fline/fl2310/stories/20060602000307600.htm “Narcotics and empire”] from Frontline-''The Hindu'' Volume 23 - Issue 10: 20 May - 2 June 2006, now archived. A discussion of the book ''Opium City, The Making of Early Victorian Bombay'' by Amar Farooqui 2006, available at the [[British Library]] UIN: BLL01013423658 .</ref> Railways much improved goods transport, the [[Great Indian Peninsula Railway]] (GIPR)opened in 1864. This allowed Bombay to fill the global demand for cotton resulting from shortages as a consequence of the American Civil War’s blockade of its southern ports(1860-1865). The opening of the Suez Canal 1869 further shortened the passage to England. The resultant economic boom saw wealthy businessmen sponsor many civic buildings – University Library Buildings, Jamsetji Jijibhoy (JJ) School of Art, and the Mechanics Institute. From the 1860‘s many municipal improvement schemes focused on improving health and sanitation.

Because of the cosmopolitan mix of Bombay Society, it is [[architect]]urally unlike the most of colonial india's neo-classicism; the wealth citizens of Bombay, and the city's [[Public Works Department]] opted for Venetian-Gothic designs with alterations to suit the Indian Climate. Victoria Terminus the station of the GIPR, adorned with Indian motifs represents this patronage. Bombay introduced Modernist architecture to India seeing new concrete construction methods as an inclusive architecture available to India's masses in the lead up to Independence.