Sassoon Docks, built in 1875, is one of the oldest docks in Mumbai and was the first wet dock constructed in Bombay. It is one of the few docks in the city open to the public. It is situated in Mumbai harbor in South Mumbai area of Colaba. It is one of largest fish markets in the Mumbai city. Its neighboring features are Mumbai Port Trust Garden (Sagar Upvan Colaba) and Offices of Fisheries Department, and it overlooks

Oyster Rock Oyster Rock is an island in the Mumbai Harbour, Mumbai, India. It is heavily fortified, and owned by the Indian Navy. For a short while, the islet was used as a naval museum. Every time when the Admiral of The Fleet sails out or in with the Nav ...

, an island in the Mumbai harbour, at a distance.

History

Built in 1875 on reclaimed land, it was owned by the mercantile company David Sassoon & Co. The company was headed by

Albert Abdullah David Sassoon Sir Albert Abdullah David Sassoon, 1st Baronet, (25 July 181824 October 1896) was a Baghdad-born businessman and philanthropist. Biography Life and career Sassoon was born on 25 July 1818 in Baghdad, Ottoman Empire, into the Sassoon family o ...

(1818–1896), son of

David Sassoon David Sassoon may refer to: *David Sassoon (designer) (born 1932), British fashion designer *David Sassoon (treasurer) (1792–1864), Iraqi-Jewish treasurer *David Solomon Sassoon (1880–1942), Iraqi bibliophile See also *Sassoon family *Albert A ...

, a Baghdadi Jew and the leader of the Jewish community in Bombay. The Sassoon Docks were the first commercial wet dock in western India and helped establish the cotton trade. In 1879, Sassoon Docks and other associated foreshore properties were purchased by the government on behalf of Bombay Port Trust. The Sassoon Docks encouraged the

Bombay Presidency The Bombay Presidency or Bombay Province, also called Bombay and Sind (1843–1936), was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India, with its capital in the city that came up over the seven islands of Bombay. The first mainl ...

to promote the construction of the large Prince's Dock. The Sassoon factories that produced silk and cotton goods in Bombay, also furnished employment for a large amount of native labor.

Street art

In 2017, street art transformed one of Mumbai’s oldest fishing docks into an exhibition space. Thirty artists from around the world gave the bustling 142-year-old Sassoon Dock, a colorful makeover as part of the St+art Urban Art Festival. The exhibition opened to public on 11 November 2017.

References

External links

Sassoon Docks
at '' wikimapia''. Mumbai docks {{Mumbai-geo-stub