Bombay New Lands Survey (Third Cadastral Survey), Panvel Creek to Ambernath and Karjat)

Circa 1930

Lithograph on paper

59 x 35.5 in (150 x 90 cm)

MAPPING BOMBAY’S EASTERN LITTORAL: THE THIRD CADASTRAL (NEW LANDS) SURVEY, C.1930

Large lithographed cadastral survey map on two joined sheets, dissected and mounted on linen, folding into its original booklet form. Overall size: approx. 150 × 90 cm.

The sheet covers the eastern littoral of Bombay (now Navi Mumbai) and extends inland to Thane, Parsik Hills, Belapur, Ghansoli, Nerul, Vashi, Panvel Creek, Diva, Parsik, Turumbe, Kopar, Juinagar, Ambernath and Karjat. Railways are prominently marked, including Ambernath station and the Thane–Kalyan line, alongside river systems such as the Kasardi and Ulhas. The cadastral plotting records villages, creeks, industrial zones, and natural features in meticulous detail.

The Third Cadastral (New Lands) Survey of Bombay was initiated during 1914–1918 and was regarded as so essential to urban expansion and revenue administration that it continued uninterrupted despite the First World War. The resulting atlas sheets became the most precise pre-Independence record of Bombay’s suburban geography, charting the agrarian and coastal landscapes that would, within decades, be transformed into the planned satellite city of Navi Mumbai.

By the time of this c.1930 lithograph issue, the survey had been reduced and re-issued for administrative use. This example captures the area at a critical juncture: the Panvel Creek still a tidal marsh, villages like Vashi, Ghansoli and Nerul recorded as discrete settlements, and the railways extending the reach of Bombay’s suburban frontier towards Ambernath and Karjat.

Such maps are now of particular interest to collectors of Bombay and Navi Mumbai history, as they document the pre-urban landscape of one of the world’s largest metropolitan regions.

This lot is offered at NO RESERVE

This lot will be shipped in "as is" condition. For further details, please refer to the images of individual lots as reference for the condition of each book.