Bridge Leading to Mountain Pass, Chitral

There are few postcards from Chitral available at the turn of the century, a remote set of mountain valleys that figured in the explorations and struggles around the "Great Game" with Tzarist Russia in the 19th and early 20th centuries. This British-ruled independent state had been the scene of a fierce struggle in 1895 when the British relieved a siege of their fort and installed a young ruler, Shuja ul-Mulk, who led the state until 1936.