Sir Cowasjee Jehangir Building, Elphinstone College, Bombay.

Photograph of a the Cowasji Jehangir building for Elphinstone College in Mumbai (Bombay), part of the Archaeological Survey of India Collections: India Office Series, taken by an unknown photographer in c. 1870. Elphinstone College was planned and built in the 1860s and was opened to the public in 1871. The college was named after Governor Mountstuart Elphinstone, the Governor of Bombay from 1819 to 1827 who is responsible for creating the administrative framework of the Western Presidency. The building shown in this view is the main hall of the college and was endowed by Sir Cowasji Jehangir (1812-1878), a local Parsi merchant and philanthropist after whom the hall is named. It is built in the neo-gothic architectural style and has several striking features. The tower is of an exaggerated height and corrugated iron was used as a roofing material, perhaps in an early trial to gage its usefulness. The brackets that support the balconies were cut and pierced with elaborate designs, bringing the western vernacular style to the heart of Bombay.