[Original caption] Commenced in 1637 and completed in 1648 A.D. by the Emperor Shahjehan. Wonderful Building in the world [end]
A standard view of the Taj, but one which manages to capture the uplifting whiteness of the marble better than most.
One of the earlier firmly dateable postcards by H.A. Mirza & Sons, the Chandni Chowk photography firm which was to become the dominant Delhi and northern Indian postcard publisher by 1905.
Postmarked Jaipur November 22, 1903 and Chicago Dec.
Before the advent of the motor car the tonga or open horse-drawn carriage was a popular mode of transporting humans and goods in the Indian subcontinent.
The central bazaar in Peshawar, capital of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP, now KPK) was a common postcard subject, even for distant publishers like H.A. Mirza in Delhi. Murrays Handbook for Travellers in India Burma and Ceylon (1928) wrote:
The Well at Sultan Nizamuddin in Delhi was constructed in 1321 in honor of Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya (1236-1325) a SUfi saint who arrived in India long before the Mughals and preached a religion of love and mysticism.
[Original caption] Built by Alaudin Khilji in 1310 A.D. [end]
In the early 14th century, Ala-ud-din Khilji carried out the extension work of the southern gateway of Quwaat-ul-Islam mosque.
Postcards of post offices at the turn of the century were quite popular, as if celebrating an institution and network that was becoming more important as image postcards and communication volume increased throughout the continent.
British cemeteries in South Asia are among the quietest and saddest of places, especially when one walks through them and notes how many people died young, and how many of these were infants.
[Original caption] Built by Delhi Municipality at a Cost-of R 28000, after the Mutiny 1857 A.D. [end]
H.A. Mirza & Sons dominated the market for postcards of Delhi from about 1900 until the 1930s.
Shimla, formerly Simla, was the summer capital of the erstwhile British Raj in India. It is now a municipal corporation in Shimla District and the capital of the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh.
