Photographs of India under the Raj

King George V and the Queen arrive in Delhi in 1911

According to the Daily Mail, 178 plate-glass negatives were found inside a size-nine Peter Lord shoebox by the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS) in Edinburgh.

They are said to have been taken in the country at the time of the British Raj and it is thought the negatives were untouched for almost 100 years.

Archivists at RCAHMS have already confirmed that some of the images were definitely taken in 1912, when King George V and Queen Mary visited Calcutta. It was the only visit by a British monarch to India as Emperor of the subcontinent.

A crowded riverside with bathers at Chandpal Ghat in Calcutta

A Jain temple complex in Calcutta

Lal Dighi, Calcutta

See more photographs of Calcutta/Kolkata circa 1911-12 here. All 178 negatives have been digitized and can be found on the RCAHMS website!

Raj in a Shoe Box – The Indian Express
Stunning cache of British-era Calcutta scenes found – The Hindu

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2 replies on “Photographs of India under the Raj”
  1. says: Gibson Girl

    For a while I was thinking about trying to live in India since it’s so much cheaper there (if you’re willing to make a few sacrifices on infrastructure) and I determined Calcutta would be the best place to go to since it had been the capital under British rule and so is full of museums and theaters and other such things I enjoy.

  2. says: Hels

    Sometimes you can look at photographs and date them accurately by the contents (fashions, architecture, transport systems etc). But there is a timelessness about the last 3 photos. Top quality and beautiful.

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