Collotype

Illustrated postcards often celebrated the post offices that made their rapid spread possible. This was a particularly popular postcard even though Cherat, 4,500 feet above sea level, was a distant army cantonment in the Northwest Frontier Province…

An unusually lively postcard with what seem to be wooden full circle swings or spinners common at amusement fairs. What exactly the Shibjee Fare [Fair] was is unclear.

According to Hobson-Jobson, the word gymkhana "is quite modern, and was unknown 40 years ago. The first use that we can trace is (on the authority of Major John Trotter) at Rūrkī in 1861, when a gymkhana was instituted there.

The Urdu text and number suggests that this postcard was made from what was originally a carte-des-visite.

[Original caption continues] Marks the Victory Over the Musalmans. [end]

The original Chittorgarh tower, or Vijay Stambh was constructed in the 16th century to commemorate a victory by the Rajput Maharana Kumbha over the Malwa ruler, Mohamed Khilji…

Raaja Bhasin, in his Simla The Summer Capital of British India (2011) has a nice quote about Shimla during the Raj and afterwards: "With this detached atmosphere from the rest of India, it is no wonder that the blame for the disasters of the Afghan…

The city of Baramulla is about 55 km from Srinagar, and because it was a key transit point for travelers to Srinagar, one of the most popular postcard locations in Kashmir.

The Madras Port (now called Chennai Port) is more than 125 years old. The construction of this pier was a major step as previously, bringing people and goods to land via boats from large ships was treacherous.

A gold-framed, oval embossed postcard by a prolific publisher was part of the many types of postcards used by publishers to keep the market satisfied with new fashions and types.

[Original hand title in albumen negative] General Willock's Residence at Shabkadr [end]

The fort at the center of the Spring 1908 battles between Mohmand tribesmen and the British-Indian army.