Charni Road –Story of its name
I am writing this article on Charni Road because one of my friends told me that this name has been given after one of the British officers, Arthur Cromwell Charney, who was killed by a falling meteorite while walking on the street. This accident was also published in the London news. I told him that it was not a true story and it was always referred to as Joke. I also told him that the Parsee Community in Mumbai is not ready to accept and they said that it is not the correct story and they always used to refer to it as Koyala or funny joke. Thanks to one Parsee named as Farok J Contractor by providing information on this.
A Portion of Charni Road was called as OLLIVANT ROAD for short period of time after Sir B C K OLLIVANT a Municipal Commissioner from 1881 to 1890.This road was not formerly connected with Grant Road, but in 1883-84 it was extended to meet later road between Girgaon and Khetwadi and partly by widening the street known as Khetwadi 15th lane. New Extension was in 1884 called OLLIVANT Road, but the new name merged into the old one of Charni Road as practically it was but one road.
According to Rao Bahadur Joshi, Charni Road name has been derived from the Chendni. Chendni locality was near Thane Railway station and inhabitants of Chendni of Thane area came and settled at Girgaum permanently. Therefore, this locality has been called Charni Road. According to me, this is not a proper story and there is no proof available.
As per my knowledge, proper or real theory is available with proof. The word Charni Road is derived from the Marathi word Charne means to graze. The story behind this is as follows.
“From the year 1822 to 1838, the fort area of Mumbai was congested and opposite of V T station there was open ground which was known as Camp Maidan (Now Called as Azad Maidan). Cattle-owners were using this ground to graze their cattle. In 1838, the British Government introduced a tax known as Grazing fee and many Cattle-owners could not afford to pay. To help these Cattle-owners, a Parsee, Sir Jamshedji Jeejeebhoy spent Rs.20000.00 from his own pocket and purchased the grassland near the seafront at Thakurdwar and provided a place for cattle to graze without any Tax. Thus, the name Charni Road derived from the word Charni means grazing in Marathi”.
Yogesh Gogwekar
13/03/2024.
Comments
Post a Comment