A Rajput
A very early lithographic card, published by Gobindram Oodeyram, likely printed in India.
Postcard
Bombay
An early Italian or French postcard celebrating or advertising the city of Bombay. It also features a bicycle, then becoming popular in the city.
Veddahs. Wild men of Ceylon
This postcard of the original inhabitants of Sri Lanka [Ceylon] was made from a photograph by Charles Scowen, one of the great photographers of the 19th century, as was likely taken in the 1870s.
A Mohamedan Fakir
John Campbell Oman (1841-1911), author of The Mystics, Ascetics and Saints of India (1903) describes the incident that made him take it upon himself to write this encyclopedic work towards the end of his life.
Fruit Seller
Note the rich character on this man's face in an image by M.V. Dhurandhar, one of India's most exceptional and prolific early 20th century painters and postcard artists.
Sent to Master E.
Madras Seven Pagodas
While we now believe that the temples date to the Pallava King Narasimharavan around 630 CE, much about their origins remains obscure. This is an embossed postcard, with the relief lines meant to simulate an old oil painting.
[Original caption] Seven
Jumma Masjid Bombay
Another exuberant, deftly rendered very early postcard by Paul Gerhardt, chief lithographer at the Ravi Varma Press in Bombay. Note the simply drawn mosque minarets, the colors that pull you in while the cart pushes out into the foreground space.
General View of Old Fort Mooltan
Compare this hand-colored view to the identical more detailed black-and-white postcard of the old fort and mausoleum of Shah Rukn-e-Alam.
General View of Old Fort, Mooltan
Multan, although a large city and railway junction in southern Punjab, does not appear frequently on postcards.
Bull Temple, Bangalore
This 16th century temple to Nandi, the sacred bull, was built by Kempe Gowda who also founded the city of Bangalore.
