Arthur Travers Crawford (1835–1911) was a British government employee and the first
Municipal Commissioner and
collector of
Bombay
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
(now
Mumbai
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
),
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
. Crawford was famous as an able administrator as well as for his allegedly, underhand financial dealings.
Crawford acquired the Agri-Horticulture Society's gardens at
Sewri
Sewri (IAST: ''Śivdī,'' iʋɖiː is a locality along the eastern edge of South Mumbai, in Maharashtra, India. It is also the name of a railway station on the Central Railway Harbour Line.
Sewri (pronounced as Shivdi / शिवडी) was ...
in order to build the European cemetery in 1865.
Crawford Market
Crawford Market (officially Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Mandai) is one of South Mumbai's most famous markets. The building was completed in 1869, and donated to the city by Cowasji Jehangir. Originally named after Arthur Crawford, the first Municipal ...
in
South Mumbai
South Mumbai, colloquially SoBo from South Bombay in Anglo-Indian English, administratively the Mumbai City District, is the city centre and the southernmost precinct of Greater Bombay. It extends from Colaba to Mahim and Sion neighbour ...
was named after him. When he took over as Commissioner, water supply was scanty, garbage was piling up and the mortality rate was a high 40 per 1,000. Crawford cleaned the streets, fixed the drains and lowered the mortality rate by half from 35,000 to 18,000 over the next two years. However his plans greatly overshot the civic budget and he was accused of financial mismanagement after he refused to heed to warnings that the deficit was ever widening. While criticised by many, he was defended by lawyer
Pherozeshah Mehta
Sir Pherozeshah Merwanjee Mehta (4 August 1845 – 5 November 1915) was an Indian politician and lawyer from Bombay. He was knighted by the British Government in India for his service to the law. He became the Municipal commissioner of Bombay ...
during the Municipal controversy circa 1870.
Later in his career it was alleged that Crawford had accepted bribes from
mamlatdars (executive heads of a
taluka
A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluka, or taluk) is a local unit of administrative division in some countries of South Asia. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administr ...
). This prompted a fierce public debate led by
Lokmanya Tilak
Bal Gangadhar Tilak (; born Keshav Gangadhar Tilak (pronunciation: eʃəʋ ɡəŋɡaːd̪ʱəɾ ʈiɭək; 23 July 1856 – 1 August 1920), endeared as Lokmanya (IAST: ''Lokmānya''), was an Indian nationalist, teacher, and an independence a ...
and
Gopal Krishna Gokhale
Gopal Krishna Gokhale ( ɡoːpaːl ˈkrɪʂɳə ˈɡoːkʰleː9 May 1866 – 19 February 1915) was an Indian 'moderate' political leader and a social reformer during the Indian independence movement. Gokhale was a senior leader of the India ...
. The subsequent inquiry, chaired by Judge
Arthur Wilson of the
Calcutta High Court
The Calcutta High Court is the oldest High Court in India. It is located in B.B.D. Bagh, Kolkata, West Bengal. It has jurisdiction over the state of West Bengal and the Union Territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The High Court buildi ...
, found Crawford (then the Commissioner of
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 ...
's Central Division), not guilty of accepting bribes but only of borrowing money from official subordinates. Crawford was subsequently removed from the Civil Service List and asked to return to
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
.
According to Govid Talwalkar's author of ''Gopal Krishna Gokhale: His Life and Times'', a June 1890 ''
Westminster Review
The ''Westminster Review'' was a quarterly British publication. Established in 1823 as the official organ of the Philosophical Radicals, it was published from 1824 to 1914. James Mill was one of the driving forces behind the liberal journal until ...
'' article alleged that Crawford's illegal funds were transferred to
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
through a
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
bank. Then, as a decoy, he wrote two letters to his brother based in Bombay that he would commit suicide at Holkar Bridge in Poona (now
Pune
Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...
). Dressed as a tramp, he boarded the third-class compartment of a Bombay-bound train. While in a hotel near the docks, the police got wind of his presence and arrested him. Crawford had tried to buy a ticket to
Colombo
Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...
.
Back in London, he penned his memoirs on his life in India, titled ''Our Troubles in Poona and the Deccan'' which was published in 1897. He described many communities in the Bombay region along with their sketches. He meted out special harsh criticism on
Brahmins
Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (guru o ...
. His fluency in
Marathi
Marathi may refer to:
*Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India
*Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people
*Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece
See also
*
* ...
ironically however led contemporary writer
N. C. Kelkar
Narasimha Chintaman Kelkar (N. C. Kelkar), popularly known as Sahityasamrat Tatyasaheb Kelkar (24 August 1872 – 14 October 1947), was a lawyer from Miraj as well as a dramatist, novelist, short story writer, poet, biographer, critic, historia ...
to comment that Crawford could have passed off as a
Chitpawan Brahmin
The Chitpavan Brahmin or Konkanastha Brahmin is a Hindu Maharashtrian Brahmin community inhabiting Konkan, the coastal region of the state of Maharashtra. Initially working as messengers and spies in the late seventeenth century, the community ...
had he donned a
dhoti
The dhoti, also known as veshti, vetti, dhuti, mardani, chaadra, dhotar, jaiñboh, panchey, is a type of sarong, tied in a manner that outwardly resembles "loose trousers". It is a lower garment forming part of the ethnic costume for men in the I ...
. Other books published by Crawford include ''Reminiscence of an Indian Police Officer'', ''The Unrest in India'' and ''Legends of Konkan''.
References
* ''Our Troubles in Poona and the Deccan'', Arthur Crawford, Archibald Constable & Co., London, UK, 1897.
Arthur Crawford– TIFR Mumbai pages
''
Mid-day
''Mid-Day'' (stylised as mid-day) is a morning daily Indian compact newspaper owned by Jagran Prakashan Limited. Editions in various languages were published in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Pune. In 2011, the Delhi and Bangalore editions were ...
''; Alpana Lath Sawai; August 14, 2005
*''The colourful Arthur Crawford''; Nina Martyris/
TNN; ''
Times of India
''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English language, English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, t ...
'', Mumbai; pg-2; 2006-04-01
''The Arthur Crawford Scandal: Corruption, Governance, and Indian Victims'' Michael D. Metelits, Oxford, 2020
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crawford, Arthur
Indian civil servants
1835 births
1911 deaths