A Kandyan Lady
A refreshing portrait of a woman looking straight back at the viewer, not contained by the frame. Most probably from a portrait by Charles Scowen in the 1870s, who photographed the same woman in slightly different poses.
Color
H.H. The Maharaja's Palace at Srinagar (Kashmir)
In her Tourist's India (1907), Eustace Alfred-Reynolds Ball writes: "Colonel Durand in his "Making of a Frontier" gives in few words a picturesque yet accurate description of Srinagar from the river : "The town, a huddled mass of lightly-built
Greetings from India
This early postcard was published by the "Bazaar for the Suffering Child," a missionary group in Germany for domestic consumption and draws our attention to two features of early European postcards.
A Fair Exchange
An early lithographic card by the elusive Bombay lithographer and publisher W. Cooper. Like some of this other cards, it seems to have originated in a photograph also published as a postcard by The Phototype Co.
Railway Porter
Like the backs of many Dhurandhar cards, this one bears the blind stamp and price ["A.H.W. Rs. 0-1-0," e.g. 1 anna] of A.H. Wheeler & Co., at 47 Hornby Road, the bookstall chain and contractor for advertising on Indian Railways.
Canal Scene, Narsapur Taluq
An unusual embossed scene, likely in Andhra Pradesh, where the frame contrasts nicely with the blue canal. Produced by a missionary organization, probably to raise money or advertise their activities in India.
Palm Avenue, Botanical Gardens, Calcutta.
[Original caption] The Royal Botanical Gardens on the west bank of the river, were founded in 1780 on the suggestion of Colonel Kyd, and have been of more service to public and private gardens of the world than any other horticultural institute.
Shalimar Garden Lahore
The Shalimar Gardens in Lahore, about 18 km from the Indian border at Wagah, were constructed in the 1640s by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jehan. They were inspired by his father Emperor Jehanghir's Shalimar Gardens in Srinagar, Kashmir.
Delhi. Old Fort.
[Original caption] Old Fort. Between the Mosque and the Jumna river stands the Fort–the ancient stronghold and palace of the Mogul emperor. A towering wall of red sandstone encloses it, moated and battlemented. [end]
Better known today as the Purana
The Foot of the Shatrunjaya Hills, Palitana
These Jain temples were constructed in memory of Ādinātha, the first of the Jain tirthankaras, who is said to have meditated here. The publisher of these unusual postcards remains elusive.
