Salsette Island is an island in Maharashtra state on India's west coast. The metropolis of Mumbai (formerly Bombay), the city of Thane and Mira-Bhayandar lie on this island, making it a very populous island and one of the most densely populated islands in the world. It has about 15.1 million inhabitants living on an area of about 619 km².
Location
Salsette is bounded on the north by Vasai Creek, on the northeast by the Ulhas River, on the east by Thane Creek and Bombay Harbour, and on the south and west by the Arabian Sea. The original seven islands of Bombay, which were merged by land reclamation during the 19th and early 20th centuries to form the city of Mumbai is now practically a southward protruding peninsula of the much larger Salsette Island. The island of Trombay that lay to the southeast of Salsette is today part of Salsette as much of the intervening swamps have been reclaimed. The island contains Sanjay Gandhi National Park, also known as Sanjay Gandhi National Park. The city of Thane lies at the island's north-eastern corner, on Thane Creek. Politically, the Mumbai City district covers the peninsula south of Mahim and Sion while most of the original island constitutes the Mumbai Suburban District. The northern portion of the island lies within? Thane District, which extends across Vasai and Thane creeks onto the mainland.
History
See also: History of Mumbai
The word Sasashti (also shortened to Sashti) is Marathi for "sixty-six", referring to the original "sixty-six villages" on the island.? It was inhabited by farmers, agriculturists, toddy tappers, artisans, fisherfolks who trace their conversion to Christianity back to 55 AD with the arrival of Christ’s disciple St. Bartholomew in North Konkan, west Maharashtra and who later were converted to? Roman Catholicism by four different? Religious orders —Dominicans, Franciscans, Augustinians and Jesuits who arrived in the 15th century along with the Portuguese. These original natives of Salsette island are the East Indian Catholics and Kolis.
109? Buddhist caves, including those at Kanheri, can be found on the island, and date from the end of the 2nd century. The island was ruled by a succession of Hindu kingdoms, the last of which to rule the islands were the Silharas. In 1343, the islands were annexed by the Muslim Sultanate of Gujarat. In 1534, the Portuguese took the islands from Sultan Bahadur Shah of Gujarat. Sashti became part of the northern province of Portuguese India, which was governed from Baçaím (present-day Vasai) on the north shore of Vasai Creek, it was leased to Dom Diogo Rodrigues also called as Mestre Diego from 25 October 1535 to 1548. In 1661, the seven Bombay islets were ceded to Britain as part of the dowry of Catherine of Bragança to King Charles II of England while Salsette remained in Portuguese hands. King Charles in turn leased the Bombay islets to the British East India Company in 1668 for £10 per year. The company found the deep harbour at Bombay eminently apposite, and the population rose from 10,000 in 1661 to 60,000 by 1675. In 1687, the East India Company transferred their headquarters there from Surat. In 1737 the island was captured by the Marathas, and most of the Portuguese northern province was ceded to the Marathas in 1739.
The British occupied Salsette in 1774, which was formally ceded to the East India Company in the 1782 Treaty of Salbai. In 1782, William Hornby, then Governor of Bombay Presidency, initiated the project of connecting the isles of Bombay. By 1845 the seven southern islands had been connected to form? Old Bombay, with an area of 435 km². Railway viaducts and causeways were built in the 19th century to connect Bombay island to the mainland via Salsette. The channel separating Bombay from Salsette and Trombay islands were bridged by the Sion Causeway in 1803. Accessibility considerably increased after construction of this causeway. Mahim and Bandra were connected by a causeway in 1845. These railway lines and roads encouraged wealthier merchants to build villas on Salsette Island, and by 1901 the population of Salsette increased to 146,993 and the region began to be referred to as Greater Bombay.
Geography
Salsette is dominated by a central mass of hills surrounded by tidal flats. A number of much smaller islands lay on its western flank. These included? Bandra, Juhu, an old linear sand bar rising just above sea level by a metre or two, Versova,? Marve Island, Dharavi island and Rai Murdhe, all with a knoll core and fringing wave—cut platforms and sandy beaches. These islands seem to have remained separate till as late as 1808. At the time of writing of the old Gazetteer of Thana in 1882, these islands could be reached during low tides by walking across the tidal inlets in between, barring the island of Dharavi (not to be confused with the slum near Mahim) that had to be reached by a boat. These are no more separate islands being joined to Salsette via reclamation. The highest point on the island is the conical peak of Kanheri (467 metres)in theSanjay Gandhi National Park, in the northern reaches of the island. This National Park is the world's biggest within city limits.
Geology
The island is located at the confluence of a number of fault lines. This makes the area earthquake prone, up to a magnitude of 6. The island is mostly composed of black basalt rock. Since it is along the sea coast, it also has a sandy belt on its western coast. The southern region of Old Bombay is mostly at sea level. However, the parts which were erstwhile shallows are below sea level. Many parts of the city are hilly. Also worth noticing is the occurrence of Laterite soil and rocks at a point on bombay island.
Other natural formations
Lakes
There are three major lakes on the island? Lake Powai Lake,? Tulsi LakeTulsi Lake and Vihar Lake Vihar Lake. The latter two lakes supply part of Mumbai's water requirements. Numerous other smaller ponds and lakes are also present on the island.
Rivers
The Mithi River (Mahim), Poisar River, Oshiwara River and? Dahisar River, originate within the National Park, and empty into the Arabian Sea. The Mithi River originates at the Powai Lake. Vasai and Thane creeks are estuarine distributaries of the Ulhas River.
Creeks
A number of saline or brackish creeks extend inland from the coastline. The Mahim creek separates the city from the suburbs in the west. Further north on the western coast, the Oshiwara River empties into the Malad (or Marvé) Creek and the Dahisar River into the Gorai Creek. The eastern waterfront too, has many small creeks.
Wetlands
The small southern part of the eastern waterfront of the island forms the Bombay harbour. North of this region lie vast amounts of protected wetlands at Sewree, home to migratory birds. The northern, north western part of the island and parts of Mahim River also have government protected marshlands. These swampy regions form massive and dense mangrove forests.
Beaches
The west coastline of Salsette has numerous beaches. The best known is the Girgaum-Chowpatty Beach. Other well known beaches in the city peninsula are Dadar Beach and Mahim Beach. Juhu , Versova, Aksa, Erangal, Manori, Gorai and Uttan Beaches, stretch towards the North on west coast of Salsette.