Gateway of India
monument in Mumbai, India
The Gateway of India is an arch-monument, completed in 1924, on the waterfront of Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. It was erected to commemorate the landing of King George V of the United Kingdom for his coronation as the Emperor of India in December 1911 at Strand Road near Wellington Fountain. He was the first British monarch to visit India.
The foundation stone was laid in March 1913 for a monument built in the Indo-Saracenic style, inspired by elements of 16th-century Gujarati architecture. The final design of the monument by architect George Wittet was sanctioned only in 1914, and construction was completed in 1924. The structure is a memorial arch made of basalt, which is 26 metres (85 feet) high, with an architectural resemblance to a triumphial arch as well as Gujarati architecture of the time.
After its construction, the Gateway was used as a symbolic ceremonial entrance to India for important government personnel. The Gateway is also the monument from where the last British troops left in 1948, following Indian independence a year earlier. It is located on the waterfront at an angle, opposite the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel and overlooks the Arabian Sea. Today, the monument is synonymous with the city of Mumbai, and is among its prime tourist attractions.
“Gateway of India” enters the record as monument in Mumbai, India. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Gateway, India and monument can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Gateway of India” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Gateway, India and monument provides the most credible route into that argument.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 15, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q864862. Authority coordinates are 18.922, 72.835. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1924, 1911, 1913 and 1914.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Gateway of India”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Gateway of India primary sources, Gateway of India archive and Gateway research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Gateway of India”?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Gateway of India” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.