Postcards from Kashmir


A photo presentation on vintage postcards of Kashmir shared generously by Michael Thomas of Pipal Press from his personal collection. These were collected by his wife Jean Thomas.

Music courtesy of RaviMech Studio

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Although I have added captions to the video, here’s the listing details of 36 images provided by Michael Thomas.

1
00:00:05,000 –> 00:00:09,000
Srinagar, Kashmir – writing on side. 1903.
2
00:00:10,000 –> 04:06:40,000
Shepherdess, Kashmir. [Also, known as ‘the shepherd’s daughter”, from the book ‘The Charm of Kashmir’ (1920)]
3
00:00:29,400 –> 00:00:40,000
Mur Canal. Nalla-e-Mar.
4
00:00:46,000 –> 00:00:50,000
Nautch Girl
5
00:00:58,000 –> 00:01:04,000
A Kashmir Boat Girl
6
00:01:07,000 –> 00:01:20,000
A Boatman
7
00:01:22,000 –> 00:01:26,000
Kashmir Dungas
8
00:01:28,000 –> 00:01:34,000
Kashmir Woman Spinning
9
00:01:35,000 –> 00:01:45,000
A Peasant Girl, Kashmir
10
00:01:50,000 –> 00:01:54,000
Srinagar Above 7th Bridge, Kashmir
11
00:01:55,000 –> 00:01:59,000
Srinagar, River View from bridge
12
00:02:00,000 –> 00:02:11,000
Mar Canal
13
00:02:12,000 –> 00:02:16,000
Srinagar and bridge of Shops
14
00:02:18,000 –> 00:02:24,000
City and the third Bridge
15
00:02:26,000 –> 00:02:34,000
Shalamar Gardens
16
00:02:36,000 –> 00:02:42,000
Nishat Bagh
17
00:02:45,000 –> 00:02:47,000
Bara Mola (Baramulla/Varmul)
18
00:02:48,000 –> 00:02:53,000
A houseboat at Baramulla
19
00:02:55,000 –> 00:03:00,000
Town of Baramulla (Wrong caption, actually view of Srinagar)
20
00:03:03,000 –> 00:03:12,000
Dal Lake
21
00:03:16,000 –> 00:03:21,000
Crossing Woolar Lake
22
00:03:23,000 –> 00:03:30,000
Kashmir in Winter
23
00:03:34,000 –> 00:03:40,000
Srinagar, The Palace
24
00:03:43,000 –> 00:03:48,000
A Dungar or Kashmir Boat
25
00:03:50,000 –> 00:03:53,000
Lotus Lilies, Dhal Lake
26
00:03:56,000 –> 00:03:58,000
Photograph of Dal Lake. 1946.
27
00:04:01,000 –> 00:04:06,000
Boatman, Dall Lake
28
00:04:09,000 –> 00:04:14,000
Kashmir, Moonshee, Bach, Commissioner’s Boat
29
00:04:17,000 –> 00:04:23,000
Dall Lake. 1930
30
00:04:27,000 –> 00:04:31,000
The Presidency, Srinagar
31
00:04:33,000 –> 00:04:40,000
Srinagar, Another Bridge [Probably, Baramulla Bridge ]
32
00:04:43,000 –> 00:04:50,000
Gulmarg
33
00:04:54,000 –> 00:04:58,000
Pastoral View, Sind Valley
34
00:05:00,000 –> 00:05:03,000
Ladakhis and Yaks, Sind Valley

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Maybe, sometime soon I will make another presentation on the postcards in my collection.

On a side note, I wish more Kashmiris would start using captions for their video, especially on music video. 

Praying at the River, 1920s

Praying at the river.
The pandit morning ritual.
A postcard by Lambert from 1920s.
Location (provided by a reader): Dabiyaar Ghat near mission school Fateh Kadal
The back side had a letter from an English lady talking about meeting Nehru and Gandhi.
The beauty of Shalimar and smelting summer of Delhi.
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Praying at Boniyar Temple, 1920s

Praying at Bhaniyar Temple [Bunair/Boniar/Boniyar [now, in Bandi Brahamana, Baramulla[Lat 34° 8′. Long. 74° 13′]]].

A postcard from 1920s.
Temple is by the Jhelum river on the road between Uri and Naushera.
At one time it was said to be the best surviving specimen of Kashmiri architecture.

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Clear Dal Postcard

Another recent addition to my collection….a post card of Dal Lake from Mahattas. 
Undated. But probably from 1920s.

My friend Yaseen Tuman adds: Small hillock in photo is Shankaracharya Hill. Exact corner where Nehru Park Shikara Ghat Stands today and Hotels from this point to Dalgate.

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Kashmir Market Boats, 1920s

 A recent addition to my collection…

This postcard came with very little information. It was published by ‘Bombay Phototype Company’, which was in business around 1910-20. The place…I don’t know…that building in the background should be a good clue. I was hoping someone will be able to identify it.

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View from The Window, 1916

A postcard from 1920s based on a photograph from 1916.

View from the famous workshop of Habib Joo (State jeweller and wood carver), Subhana (jeweller and silversmith), Ahmed Joo (coppersmith and wood carver) and Jubbar Khan (papier maché maker and wood carver).

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Franciscans of Baramulla, 1920s

New additions to archive. Two rare postcards of ‘The Franciscan Missionaries of Mary on the Missions’ of Baramulla.

First one is from 1926 and in French. Shows a dispensary run by the nuns.
The second one is from London, not dated but probably again 1920s. Shows children praying.

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A Strange Case of Beauty, 1907


At the beginning of 20th century, it seems, there were so many Kashmiris living in Punjab that if a random photographer went out to shoot a random Punjabi woman there was a good chance he would come back with a random shot of Kashmiri woman.

The following postcard dated 1907 (Bombay) and captioned ‘A model of Panjab Beauty’ is probably the strangest curio in my collection.

But, it obviously needed some fixing…

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