Raja Sandow
P.K. Raja Sandow (1894/5-1943) was one of the most famous silent film actors of India, and later a producer and director as well. Born in Tamil Nadu, he was given the name "Sandow" after a well-known German body-builder of the time.
Real Photo
Types of Men (I)
This is actually a real photograph postcard of a water colour on paper by M.V. Dhurandhar, part of a series by the artist on the people of Bombay. The recent and first major book on him, M.V. Dhurandhar The Romantic Realist (DAG, 2018) has three of
Road Rolling
Labor-intensive road rolling helped to create smoother and less permeable roads. The early history of road rolling in Europe can be traced to the 18th century when roads became militarily important.
Funeral Prayers for Abdul Qayum
A remarkable postcard taken within a crowd; this one directly captures the growing religious tension between Hindus and Muslims in pre-partition Karachi.
[Fairey] IIID Crash Bombay
![[Fairey] IIID Crash Bombay](https://www.paperjewels.org/sites/default/files/styles/square_thumbnail/public/slides/raf-crash_0.jpg?itok=Eh_61vhU "[Fairey] IIID Crash Bombay")
[Verso Original handwritten caption] After an argument with the sails of a sampan. [end]
An unusual real photo postcard of the Fairey IIID, an early 1920s British seaplane that "was popular with aircrew but they were difficult to maintain and when
A Ferry Steam Boat on the River Indus at Mari-Indus
This does not seem like a fancy Indus river steamer. It is after the heyday of the Indus steamer business that actually never really displaced the boatmen's traffic along the Indus and other river systems in Punjab, UP and Sindh.
Phatani [Pathan] Dancing Girls
![Phatani [Pathan] Dancing Girls](https://www.paperjewels.org/sites/default/files/styles/square_thumbnail/public/slides/pathan-dancers_0.jpg?itok=brZPDF7- "Phatani [Pathan] Dancing Girls")
An annual tradition in Peshawar in the early part of the 20th century and probably well beforehand, Peshwar's nautch women would dance through the streets watched and cheered by thousands of onlookers.
A Rodiya Woman Carrying Water, Ceylon
Plate & Co., like many Ceylon-based firms, published semi-nude postcards of women, more common here than even in South India, including this card with a nicely placed purple stamp.
The Chiefs of Baluchistan Leaving Darbar Hall Quetta
Sandeman Memorial Hall in the background was built expressly to bring together Balochistan's various tribal leaders to negotiate and settle disputes between themselves and the British Indian government.
Dancing Girls of Peshawar Ready For The Dance
Every city had its female dancers, or "nautch women" and they were often showed with the musicians who played, assisted and sometimes protected and managed them as well.
