The oldest settlements in and around Andheri were those of the East Indians, the natives whose villages survive in Amboli, Marol (See St. John the Baptist Church), Chakala, Gundowli, Sahar, Saki, etc.

Another concentration of the native East Indians was located on the former islet of Versova, also known as Vasave.

In the early 1900s, as urbanization spread from Bombay northwards, Marathi, Gujarati and other settlers began to colonize the area.

The English actively encouraged this in order to take off population pressure from the congested city and to increase revenue inflows; however, as a result, the native East Indians came to be swamped, marginalized and their lands were usually expropriated without compensation, even as their access to the sea for fishing was cut, thus destroying their two means of livelihood: agriculture & fishing.

In the 1950s the English built the Versova Causeway (the Versova Road) between Andheri on Sashti Island and the islet of Versova. The area on both sides of this causeway were rapidly filled in to develop areas now known as Dhake Colony, D.N. Nagar, Four Bungalows, Seven Bungalows, etc.

One of the earliest colonies is the Dhake Colony on Versova Road, West Andheri. The five buildings of Dhake Colony were built around 1950, and they served as a landmark until recently. The area is now known as D.N. Nagar.

Another of these early settlements is Bhardawadi. This lane forms a vital link with S.V. Road for the residents of Versova Road. It has been inhabited for the last ninety years. In the past, there were bungalows on this road; these gave way to apartment buildings, although there are still a few old bungalows, which is rare in Mumbai. This lane bustles with the sound of traffic which passes through it to reach S.V. Road.

The popular Ganesha temple, Shree Vanchasiddhi Vinayak Ganesh Mandir, created in 1926, also contributed to the settlement of Andheri.

Before 1945, Andheri was administered by a Collector as the "Suburban District"; in that year, the former Suburban District was absorbed by Mumbai city as Greater Bombay. However, the Suburban District was once again revived in about 2000 as the Mumbai Suburban District.