The severed limb that helped shape Bombay University

On Oct 15, 1857, during a public execution by the East India Company on Bombay's Esplanade, a severed arm from one of the executed men struck JP Hughlings, causing him to collapse.

JP Hughlings, a professor of English at Elphinstone College, was known for his industriousness, studying Sanskrit and correcting lecture books in his free time.

Hughlings' plebeian background set him apart from other British elites in Bombay, who viewed him as ill-made and excessively industrious.

Despite criticism from Anglo-Indian society, Hughlings became extremely popular at Elphinstone College, teaching his students to combine intellect and action in service of society.