Rangoon Jail
D.A. Ahuja was a Punjabi photographer based in Rangoon [now Yangon] whose studio was said to have been open through the 1960s. He published a number of Rangoon jail postcards, not a typical subject for the medium.
D. A. Ahuja
D. A. Ahuja, a Punjabi photographer settled in Rangoon (Yangon) was the major postcard publisher in Burma (Myanmar). The firm published a distinctive series of colour postcards, both from its own work and likely from other photographers, including Beato and P. Klier, possibly without permission of those photographers (he was sued by the latter at least once for using images without permission). Nevertheless, Ahuja's postcards provide exceptionally broad and interesting views of this former colony, and covers select locations in British India. The firm is said to have lasted well into the 1960s.
Rangoon Jail - Prisoners waiting for breakfast
Ahuja's colorful halftones with inscribed titles are distinctive. His postcards covered not only Burma, but many of the Indian singers and others settled in this British colony loosely attached to the Raj, as well as Indian cities like Amritsar.
Public Gardens - Bassein
A quiet postcard, taken in the city now known as Pathein, which the British occupied after the First Anglo-Burmese Was in 1826.
The Goteik Viaduct, Burma
Gokteik Viaduct was constructed by the Pennsylvania Steel Company in the Shan state of Upper Burma. This bridge is 320 feet in height and 2,250 feet in length and consists of ten spans.
Roman Catholic Bishops - Rangoon
An exceptionally rare postcard that makes one wonder how large a market there would have been for these well-fed gentlemen, and whether they were all really bishops – though this seems likely as there are currently 13 bishops in Myanmar.
Krishna's Great Dance
An unusual postcard featuring Krishna's sacred dance with the gopis. This card was sent to a Miss Bourn, 8 Union Lane, High Street, Strafford, London E 15 from Sergeant Bourn, Rangoon, Burma:
"Dear May Just a line hoping all are well, sorry I have no
Burmese Racing Canoes
An unusual scene in this postcard by what was British Burma's premiere postcard publisher. The 1900 guide Burma by Max and Bertha Ferrars describes the use of these canoes: "The boat-races are held at the Thadindyut festival.
Shipping Elephants
On the back of this self-explanatory card is a an ink blind-stamp "Greetings from My 1910 Cruise Around the World" and "Rangoon Burma Maters [sp?]." The card is postmarked Darjeeling, April 10, 1910 and addressed to "Oscar Schulze, Allegheny,
A Burmese Beauty
A skirt or longyis is topped by a loosely fitted long sleeve shirt and the lady wears two necklaces, one a choker and another a longer one.
Gohar Jaan
The former Angelina Yeoward (1873-1930) became one of the most famous singers in India, and one of its first gramophone-recorded artists.
