Charni Road Explained

Charni Road
Settlement Type:Neighbourhood
Pushpin Map:Mumbai
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name:India
Subdivision Type1:State
Subdivision Type2:District
Subdivision Type3:City
Subdivision Name1:Maharashtra
Subdivision Name2:Mumbai City
Subdivision Name3:Mumbai
Government Type:Municipal Corporation
Governing Body:Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (MCGM)
Unit Pref:Metric
Population Density Km2:auto
Demographics Type1:Languages
Demographics1 Title1:Official
Timezone1:IST
Utc Offset1:+5:30
Postal Code Type:PIN
Postal Code:400004
Area Code:022
Blank1 Name Sec1:Civic agency
Blank1 Info Sec1:BMC
Demographics1 Info1:Marathi

Charni Road (Marathi pronunciation: [t͡ʃəɾniː ɾoːɖ]) is a neighbourhood in the southern part of Mumbai. It is served by Charni Road railway station.

History

It is believed that when the British Government raised a grazing tax on people bringing their cattle to graze on the grass at the Azad Maidan, Jamshedjee Jeejeebhoy purchased the grasslands near Thakurdwar out of his funds and opened those grounds to the locals to graze their cattle for free. As the Marathi word for grazing is "charne", the area came to be known as Charni ... and thence, the road beside it, as the Charni Road. According to another source, the word is a corruption of "Chendni", a locality in the Thane-Koliwada area. Many people originally from Chendni migrated to South Mumbai to the area which is known today as Charni Road.

In 1884, Sir Adamji Peerbhoy (1845–1913), a well-known philanthropist from Mumbai, India, built several properties (a Bohra kabrastan (cemetery/burial ground), Masjid, Sanatorium, and Amanbai Charitable Hospital later known as Saifee Hospital on Charni Road opposite the railway station. He wanted to provide a safe haven for the travellers, poor, or needy to rest, use the masjid for prayers, or the hospital if they needed it. After Sir Adamjee Peerbhoy's death, his grandson Akbar, against the wishes of the family, converted the properties into a trust. The family resisted the change, but Akbar had a lot of influence.

He was the son of Abdul Hussein Peerbhoy (who was the second out of seven children of Sir Adamjee Peerbhoy, who had engineered and built the Matheran Hill Railway. The property was out of the hands of the Peerbhoy family and into the hands of the trustees. The trustees were later on changed by the Syedna (leader of the Dawoodi Bohras) and the new trustees handed over the property to the Syedna. The property was built for the benefit of the poor and the needy. The property still exists on Charni Road and is still under the name of Sir Adamji Peerbhoy.

Charni Road station

Charni Road station is present on the Western Railway line of Mumbai. Charni Road is the third railway station followed by Churchgate and Marine Lines