DemetriaMunro at 13:27, 7 March 2026

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{{short description|Area in Mumbai, India}}
{{Distinguish|Girgaon}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2018}}
[[File:India United Mill 1.jpg|thumb|India United Mill, Parel – one of the larger mills, and also one of the few to be owned by the government]]
'''Girangaon''' (literally "mill village") was a name of an area now part of central [[Mumbai]], [[India]], which at one time had almost 130 [[textile mill]]s, with the majority being [[cotton mill]]s. The mills of Girangaon contributed significantly to the prosperity and growth of Mumbai during the later nineteenth century and for the transformation of Mumbai into a major industrial metropolis.<ref>Chandavarkar (1994) p. 239</ref> Girangaon covered an area of {{convert|600|acre|km2|1}}, not including the workers' housing. The mill workers lived in a community, and they fostered a unique culture which shaped Mumbai at the turn of the twentieth century. This textile industry flourished until the early 2000s after which most of the mills were shut down, as the owners deemed them unprofitable and declared they were incapable of paying their workers' wages.<ref>D'Monte (2006) p. 95</ref><ref name="mess">{{cite news|url=http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=119432|title=THE MILL MESS-II|last=Mehta|first=Rajshri|author2=Chitrangada Choudhury|date=1 March 2005|publisher=Indian Express|access-date=2009-04-14}}{{dead link|date=February 2023|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

== Origins ==
[[File:Cotton green mill mumbai.jpg|thumb|left|Cotton green mills, c. 1910 in front of the [[Taj Mahal Palace & Tower|Taj Mahal Hotel]], Colaba]]
The [[Bombay Spinning and Weaving Company]] was the first cotton mill to be set up in Tardeo, Mumbai, in 1856.<ref name="will">{{cite book|last=Chaloner|first=William Henry |author2=D. A. Farnie |author3=William Otto Henderson |title=Industry and innovation|publisher=Routledge|location=1990|pages=113|isbn=0-7146-3335-6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EqXjvZoUidkC&dq=Bombay+Spinning+and+Weaving+Company&pg=PA113|access-date=2009-04-09|year=1989}}</ref> A boom in the textile industry followed, with 10 cotton mills set up in Mumbai by 1865, employing over 6,500 workers. A gradual increase led to a total of 136 mills being set up by 1900. The textile industry was offered added government incentives in the form of long-term leases (some of 999 years), as mills stimulated the economic growth and employment.<ref>D'Monte (2006) p. 78</ref>

These mills were owned by former traders like the [[Tata Group|Tatas]], Petits, Wadias, Currimbhoys, Thakerseys, Sassoons, Khataus, Goculdas, Cottons, and Greaves. Most of the mill workers came from areas around Mumbai - [[Kolis]] were particularly represented. The mill owners housed their workers in [[chawl]]s built in the areas of [[Tardeo]], [[Byculla]], [[Mazgaon]], [[Reay Road]], [[Lalbaug]], [[Parel]], [[Naigaum]], [[Sewri]], [[Worli]] and [[Prabhadevi]]. These areas gradually came to be known collectively as Girangaon (literally "the village of mills").<ref>D'Monte (2006) p. 79</ref>{{clear}}

==Life in Girangaon==
[[File:Madhusudan mills parel.jpg|thumb|Abandoned machinery at Madhusudan mills, Lower Parel]]
Both men and women worked in the mills. They would start working there at a young age (some as young as 16),<ref>NDTV TV segment</ref> and worked 12 hours a day (from sunrise to sunset) until the passing of the [[Factories Act 1847]] restricted the working day to 10 hours.<ref>D'Monte (2006) p. 84</ref> When the [[Great Bombay Textile Strike]] was declared in 1982 by [[Datta Samant]], there were an estimated 240,000 workers in Girangaon.<ref name="c">{{cite journal|url=http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl1808/18081030.htm|title=A raw deal and desperation|journal=[[Frontline (magazine)|Frontline]]|first=Praveen|last=Swami|author-link=Praveen Swami|access-date=5 July 2018|volume=18|issue=8|date=14–27 April 2001|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100531055708/http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl1808/18081030.htm|archive-date=2010-05-31}}</ref>

90% of the population who worked at the mills lived within a 15-minute walking distance of them. Most of the buildings were [[chawl]]s; a survey conducted in Parel in 1921 determined that 27% of the population in Parel lived in rooms with six or more people.<ref>Chadavarkar , (1998) p. 103</ref> These chawls were built by both the government and the mill owners, but neither paid much attention to the quality of the housing. In 1929, one chawl in Dadar was described as being a "dark, unwholesome den into which the light of day does not penetrate and which of necessity breeds disease and pestilence."<ref name="D'Monte 2006 p. 82">D'Monte (2006) p. 82</ref> Often the rooms did not have adequate ventilation,<ref name="D'Monte 2006 p. 82"/> and the lack of lavatory and washing facilities distressed the women in particular.<ref name="Chadavarkar , 1998 p. 180">Chadavarkar , (1998) p. 180</ref> The windows were kept closed to keep out the stench of the gutters and to keep dirty water from flowing into the house during the [[monsoon]] season.<ref name="Chadavarkar , 1998 p. 180"/>
[[File:Kaka tells story.jpg|thumb|left|Scene from a popular 2007 play "Cotton 56 Polyester 84" by [[Sunil Shanbag]] about life in Girangaon]]

Due to this overcrowding, the distinction between home and street was blurred; Girangaon residents spent more of their time on the street than in the home.<ref>Chadavarkar , (1998) p. 170</ref> There was great participation in communal festivals like [[Moharram]], [[Ganesh Chaturthi]] and [[Gokulashtami]]. Local shop keepers and mill owners were often coerced into contributing to such festivals, and adjoining localities competed with each other in the grandness of their contributions.<ref>Chadavarkar , (1998) p. 172</ref> The local liquor shop or gymnasium was a common meeting place. The workers of Girangaon patronized arts like poetry, theatre and dance ([[tamasha]]).<ref name="dna" /> Several notable actors first found fame here.{{Citation needed|date=May 2011}}

== Peak and decline ==
At their peak in 1980, the mills employed 300,000 workers.<ref name="rediff">[http://www.rediff.com/news/2007/jan/18sld3.htm "The Great Mumbai Textile Strike... 25 Years On"]. Rediff.com. 18 January 2007. Retrieved 11 December 2012.</ref> Indian cinema of the 1980s and 1990s frequently drew themes from the life of the mill workers. However, the mills were permanently closed after the [[Great Bombay Textile Strike]] of 1982, which went on for 18 months at many mills and triggered the end of the struggling industry, with most of the mills being shut down after the strike.<ref name="rediff" /> By 2007, only 25,000 people worked in the few remaining mills.<ref name="rediff" />

== Redevelopment ==
[[File:Phoenix Mills 2.jpg|thumb|Phoenix Mills, Parel, which is now a shopping mall]]
In recent years, the mills have been [[Redevelopment of Mumbai mills|extensively redeveloped]], many becoming [[Shopping mall|mall]]s and [[discothèques]]. The Kohinoor Mills in Dadar were bought for {{INRConvert|4.21|B}} by Matoshree Realtors and Kohinoor Consolidated Transport Network Ltd., companies which were floated by [[Raj Thackeray]] and [[Manohar Joshi]] respectively.<ref name="sharma">{{cite news|url=http://www.hindu.com/2006/02/16/stories/2006021601781000.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061013175820/http://www.hindu.com/2006/02/16/stories/2006021601781000.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=13 October 2006|title=What's love got to do with any of this? |last=Sharma|first=Kalpana|date=16 February 2006|access-date=2009-04-09|work=[[The Hindu]]|location=Chennai, India}}</ref> Phoenix mills, Parel was converted into a "luxury mall".<ref name="bline">
{{cite web
|url=http://www.blonnet.com/2008/05/16/stories/2008051652472100.htm
|title=''The Hindu Business Line'': Phoenix Mills setting up luxury mall in Mumbai
|publisher=www.blonnet.com
|access-date=2009-04-14
}}
</ref>

In 2005, the government-owned National Textile Corporation auctioned five mills, covering 600 acres, for {{INRConvert|20.2|b}}.<ref>[http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2005/10/18/stories/2005101803600100.htm "Bombay HC sets aside sale of NTC land"]. ''The Hindu Business Line''. 17 October 2005. Retrieved 11 December 2012.</ref> In February 2009, the NTC decided to auction another nine mills, covering an area of 90 acres, for about {{INRConvert|40|b}}.<ref>[http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/mill-land-auction-90-acres-more/421822/ "Mill land auction: 90 acres more"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090212194901/http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/mill-land-auction-90-acres-more/421822/ |date=12 February 2009 }}. ExpressIndia.com. 11 February 2009. Retrieved 11 December 2012.</ref> The Shrinivas Mills of Lalbaug, covering 16 acres, are being redeveloped into [[World One]]<ref>{{cite news| url=http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/real-estate/news-/Lodha-to-gift-Mumbai-worlds-tallest-homes/articleshow/6009699.cms | work=The Times Of India | title=Lodha to gift Mumbai world's tallest homes | date=2010-06-04}}</ref> – Asia's tallest residential building.

===Conservation===
There are conservation efforts underway to preserve the old mills as [[museum]]s. Such a museum was opened at the United Mills in Lalbaug.<ref name="express">{{cite news|url=http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/citys-first-textile-heritage-museum-to-come-up-at-girangaon/423671/ |title=City's first textile heritage museum to come up at Girangaon |date=14 February 2009 |publisher=Indian Express |access-date=2009-04-09 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120924055405/http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/citys-first-textile-heritage-museum-to-come-up-at-girangaon/423671/ |archive-date=2012-09-24 }}</ref> A popular play, ''Cotten 54, Polyester 64'', has been written, based on Neera Adarkar and Meena Menon's book, ''One hundred years, One hundred voices. The Millworkers of Girangaon: An Oral History''. A festival was organized by an NGO Pukar to celebrate the culture and people of Girangaon in November 2008.<ref name="dna">{{cite news|url=http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1202608|title=Girangaon festival to preserve heritage|last=Mhaske|first=Pandurang|date=2 Nov 2008|publisher=DNA|access-date=2009-04-09}}</ref> Seven mill structures were granted heritage protection status by the Government of Maharashtra.<ref name="desai">{{cite news|url=http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/In-Girangaon-7-mill-structures-get-heritage-protection/278452/ |title=In Girangaon, 7 mill structures get heritage protection |last=Desai |first=Shweta |date=29 February 2008 |publisher=Indian Express |access-date=2009-04-09 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081203170248/http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/In-Girangaon-7-mill-structures-get-heritage-protection/278452/ |archive-date=2008-12-03 }}</ref>

==See also==

* [[Redevelopment of Mumbai mills]]
* [[History of Mumbai]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
*{{cite book|last=D'Monte|first=Darryl|title=Mills for Sale|publisher=Marg Publications|location=Mumbai, India|date=December 2006|isbn=81-85026-77-7}}
*{{cite book|last=Chandavarkar|first=Rajnarayan|title=The Origins of Industrial Capitalism in India |publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge|year=1994|isbn=0-521-41496-2}}
*{{cite book|last=Chandavarkar|first=Rajnarayan|title=Imperial power and popular politics|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1998|edition=Illustrated|isbn=0-521-59692-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bTOBfqjoyyoC&dq=girangaon&pg=PA103|access-date=2009-04-09}}

== External links ==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110727101701/http://mumbaimillworkers.org/?page_id=9 The Mumbai mill workers website]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFNa8d_7ckg NDTV news segment on Girangaon]

{{Mumbai topics}}

{{coord missing|Maharashtra}}

[[Category:Culture of Mumbai]]
[[Category:History of Mumbai]]
[[Category:History of the textile industry]]

Girangaon - Revision history

DemetriaMunro at 13:27, 7 March 2026