India, June 26 -- James Cosmas Masselos, one of the foremost urban historians who wrote and researched extensively on Mumbai, passed away at the age of 85 in Australia on Wednesday. Over a glorious six-decade career, Masselos published six books, brought out five edited collections and contributed over 50 research articles. By any yardstick, this is a remarkable body of work.

In January 2017, a festschrift conference was held in his honour at University of Mumbai where scholars from around the world presented papers. These were later published in a volume titled 'Bombay before Mumbai' in 2019 edited by Professors Rachel Dwyer, Prashant Kidambi and Manjiri Kamat.

Masselos's association with the city began in July 1961 when he travelled f...