Who designed the Bombay Secretariat in the 1870s?
- A.H. St. Clair Wilkins
- B.Sir Cowasjee Jehangir Readymoney
- C.Purushottamdas Thakurdas
- D.Nusserwanji Tata
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is A, H. St. Clair Wilkins. Henry St. Clair Wilkins, an officer of the Royal Engineers, designed the Bombay Secretariat, completed in 1874 as part of the grand row of public buildings that rose along the Oval in Bombay after the old fort walls were pulled down in the 1860s. The building is in the Venetian Gothic style, with arched verandahs, a tall central gable and a tower, and is now the Old Secretariat that houses the city's civil courts. Wilkins also designed the Public Works Department Secretariat nearby. These buildings, with the University buildings and the High Court, make Bombay's Gothic Revival ensemble, now part of the Victorian Gothic and Art Deco Ensembles of Mumbai, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2018. Option B is wrong because Cowasjee Jehangir Readymoney was a Parsi businessman and philanthropist who paid for buildings such as the University Convocation Hall, but was not an architect. Option C is wrong because Purushottamdas Thakurdas was a 20th-century industrialist. Option D is wrong because Nusserwanji Tata was a merchant, father of Jamsetji Tata. Exam tip: Bombay Secretariat (1874) is Venetian Gothic, by H. St. Clair Wilkins.
Practice Questions
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- A.1 only
- B.1 and 3 only
- C.2 and 3 only
- D.1, 2 and 3
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- B.musical instruments
- C.pre-historic cave paintings
- D.tribal languages
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- B.Parivraajaka
- C.Agrahaarika
- D.Maagadha
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- B.Chidambaram
- C.Gangaikonda Cholapuram
- D.Thanjavur
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