Hyderabad, The Char Minar
Johnston & Hoffmann
Zalra Tank, Ajmere
Better known as the Jhalra natural water tank adjacent to the tomb of the 13th century Sufi Khawaja Moinuddin Chishti. Hundreds of thousands of people come here each year for the urs (the anniversary of the death) of a Sufi saint.
Greetings From Calcutta
A very early postcard from one of Kolkata's largest retailers. Postmarked Dec. 2, 1898 and addressed to Master Geoffrey Corbett, Whiltey, Yorks., England: "To my godson & all his relations G.C. [sp?]."
A Benares Dancing Girl
Note how nicely the stamp is positioned in line with the woman's arms; according to the so-called "language of stamps" current at the turn of the century, this stamp position might mean the sender is asking "Do you love me?" or even "Your love
Cooly Woman, Darjeeling.
Although taken in the firm's studio, with the woman posing upright, one can from this portrait and the wooden beam infer the literally backbreaking work hillstation workers endured.
Hill Milk Women
This postcard is likely based on a portrait by Johnston & Hoffmann of 22 Chowringhee [also Chourangi] Road, Kolkata, one of the most storied photographic firms in British India.
A Group of 3 Nepaulese
This rare photograph of Nepalis was likely taken in the hillstation of Darjeeling in a studio.
The "Dhingy"
A small boat on the Hooghly, the "Captain Buxo." Hobson-Jobson defines "DINGY, DINGHY , s. Beng. diṇgī; [H. dingī, dengī, another form of dongī, Skt. droṇa, 'a trough.'] A small boat or skiff; sometimes also 'a canoe,' i.e. dug out of a single trunk.
The "Baboo" Cyclist.
A satirical postcard showing a "Baboo," which Hobson-Jobson defined as used in Kolkata "with a slight savour of disparagement, as characterizing a superficially cultivated, but too often effeminate, Bengali," pulling ahead on the most modern of
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.
