A shoe box, sized 9, has been found to contain about 178 glass-plated photographsin the archives of Scotland’s national collectionsby the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland,Edinburg capturing life in British ruled India. The negatives were found in a fragile condition wrapped in ‘The Statesman Newspaper”, dated 1914, containing black and white images on the life in India during the British Raj era about 100 years ago. The collection has photos ranging from religious ceremonies to images King George V’s visit to India to a series of photographs depicting the lifestyle of the commoners. Nothing s yet known about the photographer, although many efforts are on to find out his/her identity.
Here are some of the photos from the collection:
1. Cruise from England
2. Commoners during their everyday work
3. A photograph taken after a game of tennis
4. Calcutta all decked up in 1912 celebrating the visit of King George V and Queen Mary
5. Laborers pulling carts, presumably at Howrah Station in 1912
6. A horse-carrier, called tanga, in Calcutta. Also seen is a barber cutting hair of a young man
7. Aghori Babas during 1912
8. Calcutta decked up for King George V and Queen Mary’s visit
9. Temple in Calcutta in 1912 British Era
By : Archa Dave
