The Pykara Falls, Nilgiris
Pykara is not far from Ooty, and was a popular South Indian postcard subject. Sacred to the Todas, the Pykara River is also where one of India's first hydroelectric power plants was commissioned in the 1930s.
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Tatawadha
[Original caption] Jatayu-Vadha: - Ravana, while carrying away Sita, is being attacked by the bird Jatayu, with whom he fights. [end]
Jatayu, the holy bird, lived in Panchavati close to the hut of Rama.
Bombay
A magnificent early lithographic postcard of Bombay, show Marine Drive before the Art Deco buildings became a dominant feature in the 1930s.
Rajputana Aboriginal
[Original caption] Aboriginal, Rajputana. Rajputana is an administrative territory of India. It lies between Sind, the Punjab, the North-Western Provinces, and the several native states of Central India.
How our Food is cooked The Bawarchi The Cook
A humorous card by one of the largest Raj retailers, comparing Western and Eastern cooks and procedures. It is signed by the artist Geo[rge] D. and dated [19]11 in the bottom right corner.
Calcutta
Nautch dancers inspired stories like Hassan Shah’s The Nautch Girl, “the first known modern Indian novel” in the 1790s, as well as the first Urdu novel, the story of the Lucknow courtesan Umrao Jaan Ada in 1899.
A version of this card was sent by
The "Chuprassie"
Hobson-Jobson's, the famous dictionary of Anglo-Indian terms, defines Chuprassy as "the bearer of a chapras, i.e. a badge-plate inscribed with the name of the office to which the bearer is attached. The chaprasi is an office-messenger, or henchman,
Royal Visit at Gwalior, on Jan 1905
[Original Verso] (King Georges V was then Prince of Wales) India [end]
Antoine Druet (1857–1921) was a French painter and postcard artist; given the caption, this card would have been published after George V was crowned King in May 1910. A lush,
Saiyad Mobarik Ali, Moolvee (Learned Man)
One of siz postcards in Raphael Tuck & Sons first "Native Life in India" series, which featured the work of an artist with the initials G.E.M. who remains unidentified.
A Belle of Northern India
[Original caption] A Belle of Northern India. The women of Delhi and district are, to Western eyes, rather more pleasing than those of many other parts of India.
