Shipping Tea, Colombo
In the 1860's the coffee rust fungus disease destroyed much of the the coffee industry of Sri Lanka. In the late 1860s, a Scotsman named James Taylor established the first multi-acre tea plantation in the country.
People
A Tamil Lady
A very early Higginbotham's postcard, with the back blind stamped "Post Card" instead of printed (or electrotyped). The image is also very small, not merely to leave room for writing but because that is where most of the expense was, in the ink and
Group of Waziris
[Original caption] The Waziris are a native race inhabiting the north-west frontier of India - the province immediately next to Afghanistan.
Hon' ble N.G. Chandravarkar
Sir Narayan Ganesh Chandavarkar, an early Hindu reformer and political leader, was born in Karnataka in 1855. He later became vice-chancellor of the University of Bombay where he spent most of his life working as a Justice, activist and reformer.
The Dhangar
The word "Dhangar" owes its origin to the Sanskrit word "Dhenu" (cow), and apparently refers to a caste of people associated with herding primarily in Maharashtra, but also throughout India.
Greetings from Darjeeling Himalaya
An early "Greetings from" postcard of Darjeeling by its premiere early photographer Thomas Paar. Clare Harris in her excellent book Photography and Tibet (Reaktion, 2016) "deconstructs" the figure on the left, whom she correctly calls a 'poster boy'
A Brahmin Astrologer
Taraporevala & Sons was the premiere Bombay bookstore and publisher, stock full of 19th century illustrated magazines and images eagerly bought and saved in trunks by artists like Ravi Varma as inspiration.
The Tatschali Line in Bombay
Handwritten on the back is this message: "Bombay, March 3, 1903: “Dear little General. This is a picture of the native portion of this city – we do not dare go in it because there are so many cases of plague.
A Bhil Couple
Bhils are a name for ancient tribes across a wide swathe of India, including Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan as well as in parts of far-eastern India. Although Hobson-Jobson claimed that "no distinct Bhil language survives" (p.
State Elephant
In India, elephants are revered as symbols of wisdom and good luck. Once it was common to find elephants on the roads of Mumbai.
