Bombay Cyclones: An Environmental History of the West Coast of India in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries

While Bombay’s rains have always been an intriguing research topic, the cyclones faced by the city and its surroundings have not received much attention. The study of tropical cyclones on the east coast of the Indian subcontinent, especially those that struck the coastal regions of present-day Bangladesh, has been a focus of many environmental historians. However, the question remains whether Bombay and its surroundings were less affected in this regard. In this paper, thorough research has been conducted on the cyclones that hit the West Coast, especially Bombay, using both official sources and unofficial narratives from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The extent to which West Coast cyclones differed from those of the East Coast is thoroughly examined. Finally, the paper touches on Bombay’s position in terms of ecological refugees, a growing issue in the twenty-first century.