Essendon and the banks of the Maribyrnong River were originally inhabited by the Wurundjeri clan of the Woiwurrung speaking people of the Kulin Aboriginal nation.
From 1822, over 500 secular Kulin Brahmins of Calcutta organised themselves into a vigilante force under legal experts like Ram Mohan Roy, Dwarkanath Tagore and Prasanna Coomar Tagore known as the Brahma Sabha to report and prosecute such offences.
Kulin Brahmins are those Brahmins in Bengal who can trace themselves to the five families of Kanauj (Kanyakubja), Uttar Pradesh who migrated to Bengal.They were given immense power during the reign of the Sena/Sen kings who were staunch Hindus and did not encourage the practice of any other religion.
Niddrie and the banks of the Maribyrnong River were originally inhabited by the Wurundjeri clan of the Kulin Aboriginal nation.