The Bhistie
A contemporary artist's rendering of one of the most popular postcard subjects, the all important "bhistie" who brought water in an animal skin to the thirsty.
Postcard
The Bazaar, Delhi
A hand-coloured postcard of Delhi by one of the earliest London-based publishers of Indian postcards.
The Bazaar, Leh
Probably one of the earliest if not the earliest postcard of Leh, capital of the former Kingdom of Ladakh. Little is known about R. E. Shorter, a photographer with offices in Sialkot, Punjab, on the route to Kashmir, and Kashmir.
Rabindranath Tagore
A portrait of Tagore published three years after his death. In Krishna Dutta and Andrew Robinson's excellent biography of this great man (Bloomsbury, 1995), there appears this translation of this poignant poem:
Karma (The Worker), 1896
No sign of my
Tomb of Etamad-ud-Dowla, Agra.
[Original caption] Tomb of Etamad-ud-Dowla, Agra. The whole of the exterior and much of the interior is of white marble with beautiful inlay work. The mausoleum stands in a beautiful garden.
Group of Lamas
[Original caption] Group of Lamas. The Lamas are priests of the Buddhist religion.
The Auckland House School, Simla
Founded in 1866, this school was founded in 1866 and soon took over this former home of a Viceroy. It remains a premiere educational institution in India, and has grown to serving almost a thousand students from a few dozen in the early days.
The Great Hero of India
Few if any politicians were as popular as Bal Gangadhar Tilak, the Maharashtrian politician and freedom fighter who spent many years in jail. He was referred to by British authorities as "the father of Indian unrest."
Sacrificing a Goat for a Religious Festival
[Original caption] Sacrificing a Goat for a Religious Festival.
Madras, Holy Tank at Tirukalikunoram
[Original caption] Madras, Holy Tank at Tirukalikunoram. Here in a great square court surrounded by people, palms, and neem-trees, we have one of the great Holy Tanks of Indian pilgrimage.
