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Bombay Castle

 Bombay Castle, also known as Casa da Orta, stands as one of Mumbai's oldest defensive structures. Its story began when Garcia de Orta, a Portuguese nobleman, leased the island of Bombay from the King of Portugal between 1554 and 1570. He constructed a manor house, a permanent wooden structure, which formed the nucleus around which the later castle and the city itself would grow. This original manor house was located on the western coast, behind what is now the Asiatic Library.   

In 1665, the islands of Bombay came under British control, and in 1668, the East India Company took possession of the manor house. Over the subsequent decade, the British fortified the existing structure, renaming it Bombay Castle. They utilized locally sourced blue Kurla stone and red laterite stone from the Konkan region to the south for the construction.  

The fortified castle featured four bastions, three of which were initially surrounded by water. These were named the Flag Staff Bastion (where the British flag was hoisted), the Flower Tree Bastion, and the Tank Bastion. The fourth, facing west, was the Brab Tree Bastion, named for its proximity to a Brab tree.  

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