The relationship of Parsis and athletics was a oft-discussed issue in the late 19th and early 20th century, with a tradition from Persia of Parsi marital arts and various muscle men who distinguished themselves set against popular conceptions of the
Snake charmers are one of the most common early Indian postcard subjects, and this must be one of the earliest and most beautiful such views. Note the clever use of the palm backdrop to create the illusion of depth, and the rich use of red.
B. Rigold and Bergmann were a London firm (69, Bishopsgate, London, E.C.), apparently established in 1876 that traded with India and China.
[Original caption] Bombay. View of Victoria Terminus & Municipal Building. Bombay is by fat the most European in appearance of all the cities of India.
An early postcard summarizing the value of British Indian coinage, one rupee and below, in silver and copper. One British pound at the time was worth 240 pence, with 1 Rupee worth 16 pence (the 'd' on the card). Another postcard summarized the value
[Original caption] Bombay-Poona Mail. The magnificent train which carries His Majesty's mails between these two towns on the Great Indian Penninsular Railway is one of the finest trains in the British Empire. [end]
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.
Also known as Lokmanya ("accepted by the people as their leader") Tilak, this Maharashtran was one of the first leaders of the Independence Movement, and someone who used the plague and other injustices of British rule to rally people around the cry
P.K. Raja Sandow (1894/5-1943) was one of the most famous silent film actors of India, and later a producer and director as well. Born in Tamil Nadu, he was given the name "Sandow" after a well-known German body-builder of the time.
This is actually a real photograph postcard of a water colour on paper by M.V. Dhurandhar, part of a series by the artist on the people of Bombay. The recent and first major book on him, M.V. Dhurandhar The Romantic Realist (DAG, 2018) has three of
