A collection of photographs, receipts and postcards belonging to an anonymous British soldier who visited Kashmir in around 1944 during World War 2.
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Dance and Cabaret, 1944
Didda Rani Coin (979-1005 AD)
From personal collection
Queen Didda (979-1005 AD), wife of Raja Kshemgupta and ruler of Kashmir, grand-daughter of Bhimadeva, Shahi ruler of Kabul.
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| Copper coin of Didda around 950-8 A.D. [Although I suspect it may be of Kalsa (1063-89)] |
Because the queen was the ruler, because the coins carried her name too, the King was known with moniker, Didda-ksema. A lame queen who tortured her own grandson to retain the throne [update. 2018. No, Didda did not kill here Grandsons]. Gave away money and land to Brahmins to check dissent.
Around 1891, when Aurel Stein arrived in Kashmir in he found he found these coins “so common in the Bazars that they might be supposed never to have quite gone out of circulation.”*
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* Notes On Monetary System Of Ancient Kashmir (1899), at Archive.org
Kashmiri Woman’s costume, 19th century
“Kashmir. Woman’s costume, nineteenth century, worn by upper classes. Hat is usually covered by a white silk scarf. Silk brocaded with metallic gold, floral and medallion pattern. Hat is made of gold-colorer paste with red paste “jewels,” seed pearls, and metal tear-shaped pendants. “
From ‘Costumes of the East’ by Walter Ashlin Fairservis, Jr. 1971
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Interesting read: Kashmir issue of Design magazine Pool (Nov, 2013)
Pestonji’s White Horse, 1983
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| White horse outside ‘Bank of Baroda’, Pestonjee Building, Kothibagh, Residency Road |
I knew this one was going to be a special book but what I didn’t expect was an image of a prized memory of Srinagar City: Pestonji’s White Horse.
Raghubir Singh’s ‘Kashmir: Garden of the Himalayas’ (1983) has the photograph explained as, “The white wooden horse was a joke-present from one polo-playing Maharaja (Jaipur) to another (Kashmir). A White Horse whiskey dealer rescued it from a junk heap and installed it in front of a building in Srinagar which he rents to a bank.”
Although the book does not mention it, yet I had heard so much about it (although not the story about its origin), I knew I was looking at the famous Pestonji Ka Ghoda.
Pestonji name figures in history of Kashmir right from late 1800s to the early times of Sheikh Abdullah (Jinnah and his wife apparently stayed with him during a trip to Srinagar in 1920s).
A shopping mall now stands in its place.
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The book took almost 14 days. Whoever said world has become smaller hasn’t obviously tried bringing in a book from overseas. Originally costing Rs. 280. It cost me around Rs.1600 for a second hand first edition. Some more on the book later. And also some more rare books. And when I get some time some old writings of an incredible Parsi on Kashmir, its lore, Pandits and their ways of life.
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Update: From my father’s camera. The White Horse (rather a replica?) now in November 2013, alone in a M S Shoping Mal, Residency Rd, Regal Chowk, Rajbagh, Srinagar.
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The definitive index to Kashmir Images through the ages
A simple guide to go through more than 3000 vintage images posted on this blog in last four years. The links are ordered in increasing order of year of creation ( and when info. not available based on year of publication)
- A map, based on Bernier’s description of Kashmir, was first included in the Dutch version of his travel account published in Amsterdam in 1672.
- Map of Kashmir and Northern Part of Panjab from ‘Notice of a Visit to the Himmáleh Mountains and the Valley of Kashmir, in 1835 ( by Charles von Hügel, January 1, 1836)
- Kashmir Lithographs from ‘Travels in Kashmir, Ladak, Iskardo ‘ (1840), G.T. Vigne’s book about his travels in Kashmir in 1835.
- Lord of Puri under Kashmiri Shawl. An illustration from India and its inhabitants (1854) by Caleb Wright, Alexander Duff, John Statham and J. J. Weitbrecht.
- Kashmir Illustrations from ‘Church Missionary Intelligencer’ (1854)
- Kheer Bhawani Hindu fair Illustrations by William Carpenter (1854-55)
- Kashmir Illustrations from ‘Wall-Street to Cashmere : a journal of five years in Asia, Africa, and Europe’ by (1859) by John B. Ireland.
- Kashmir Illustrations from ‘Journals kept in Hyderabad, Kashmir, Sikkim, and Nepal’ (1887) by Sir Richard Temple (1826-1902).
- Panoramic painting of Srinagar from ‘Travels in Ladâk, Tartary, and Kashmir’ (1862) by Henry D’Oyley Torrens.
- Photograph of Kashmiri people by Bourne & Shepherd. Samuel Bourne, British photographer who first visited Kashmir in 1864. From ‘The world’s peoples; a popular account of their bodily & mental characters, beliefs, traditions, political and social institutions’ by A.H. Keane (1908)
- Photograph of people of Kashmir in India from various volumes of ‘The people of India : a series of photographic illustrations, with descriptive letterpress, of the races and tribes of Hindustan’ (1868) by John William Kaye, Meadows Taylor, J. Forbes Watson.
- Illustrations from ‘Letters from India and Kashmir’ by J. Duguid, 1870
- Kashmir and ‘Little Tibet'(Ladakh) illustrations from ‘Central Asia, travels in Cashmere, Little Tibet, and Central Asia’ (1874) by Bayard Taylor.
- Illustrations from ‘The northern barrier of India: A popular account of the Jummoo and Kashmir territories’ (1877) by Frederic Drew.
- Illustrations from ‘A trip to Cashmere and Ladâk’ (1877) by Cowley Lambert.
- Illustrations from ‘The Happy Valley: Sketches of Kashmir & the Kashmiris’ by W. Wakefield (1879)
- Kashmir illustrations from ‘Indian pictures, drawn with pen and pencil’ (1881) by William Urwick
- Kashmir sketches from ‘The diary of a civilian’s wife in India’ by Augusta E. King (1884)
- Kashmiri guns and sword illustration ‘Aus dem westlichen Himalaya: Erlebnisse und Forschungen’ by Károly Jenö Ujfalvy (1884)
- Working class Pandit women from countryside. 1985. Photographer unknown. A matter of simple caption.
- Maps and images of Kashmir from ‘The Earth and Its Inhabitants’ (1891) by Elisée Reclus.
- A Snake Charmer in the New Bazaar, Srinagar, Kashmir, 1892. Illustration by J. E. Goodall
- Kashmir images from ‘Where Three Empires Meet: A Narrative of Recent Travel in Kashmir, Western Tibet, Gilgit, and the Adjoining Countries’ (1893) by E. F. Knight
- Pencil sketches of Kashmir by David McCormick from his book ‘An artist in the Himalayas’ (1895)
- Two photographs from year 1885. Photographer unknown. [Earthen Ware sellers], [Embroideres]
- Women Clearing Weeds. Kashmir, 1890.
- Photographs from ‘Valley of Kashmir’ by Walter Rooper Lawrence (1895).
- Vichar Nag, 1895
- Kashmir towards the end of 19th century in British Newspapers. [Earthquake and Famine]
- Pandit woman by Fred Bremner, 1900. Published in National Geographic, 1921. [with a note on wrong caption]
- Photographs from ‘Afoot Through the Kashmir Valleys’ (1901) by Marion Doughty.
- Kashmir paintings by Australian artist Mortimer Menpes. From the books ‘World pictures; being a record in colour’ (1902) and ‘The Durbar’ (1903).
- Stereoscopic photographs of Kashmir taken by James Ricalton in c. 1903
- Photographs are from the book ‘Irene Petrie : Missionary to Kashmir’ (1903)
- Kashmir images from ‘Sport and travel in the Far East’ (1910) by J. C. Grew. [year of travel: 1903]
- ‘India, past and present’ (1903) by C. H. Forbes-Lindsay.Images by Francis Frith from 1870s.
- A Kashmir sketch from ‘The land of regrets: a Miss Sahib’s reminiscences’ (1909) by Isabel Fraser Hunter. Year of travel: 1903.
- Photographs of Kashmiri Giants at Delhi Darbar, 1903. By George Rose
- Images from ‘Kashmir: Its New Silk Industry’ by Sir Thomas Wardle (1904)
- Photographs from the book A lonely summer in Kashmir (1904) by Margaret Cotter Morison.
- ‘Feeding poor in Jammu’ for prince of wales in 1905. From ‘Through India with the Prince’ (1906) by George Frederick Abbott.
- Map of Kashmir from ‘The Vale of Kashmir’ (1906) by Ellsworth Huntington
- Kashmir illustrations from ‘Pictorial tour round India’ (1906) by John Murdoch
- Photographs of Kashmir from ‘The Romantic East Burma, Assam, & Kashmir’ by Walter Del Mar (1906)
- Illustrations of Kashmir from ‘A Holiday in the Happy Valley with pen and pencil’ (1907) by Major T. R Swinburne.
- Images from dutch travelogue ‘De zomer in Kaschmir : De Aarde en haar Volken’ (Summer in Kashmir: ‘The Land and its Peoples) by F. Michel (1907).
- Paintings from ‘An eastern voyage: A journal of the travels of Count Fritz Hochberg through the British empire in the East and Japan (1910) by Hochberg, Friedrich Maximilian, Graf von. Year of travel 1908. And Images from Kashmir and Ladakh from this book.
- From the book ‘Kashmir described by Sir Francis Younghusband, K.C.I.E. Painted by Major E. Molyneux’ (1909).
- A group photograph of Kashmiri Pandits from ‘Modern India’ by William Eleroy Curtis (1909)
- Photographs of Kashmir by Vittorio Sella from ‘Karakoram and Western Himalaya 1909, an account of the expedition of H. R. H. Prince Luigi Amadeo of Savoy, duke of the Abruzzi’ by Filippo De Filippi (1912). Year of travel: 1909.
- Mattan spring tempe. Probably 1910. Photographer probably Fred Bremner [Via a Flickr user]
- Kashmir images ‘Across the roof of the world; a record of sport and travel through Kashmir, Gilgit, Hunza, the Pamirs, Chinese Turkistan, Mongolia and Siberia’ (1911) by Percy Thomas Etherton.
- Kashmir images from ‘Indian pages and pictures: Rajputana, Sikkim, the Punjab, and Kashmir’ (1912) by Michael Myers Shoemaker
- Photographs from ‘Beyond the Pir Panjal life and missionary enterprise in Kashmir’ by Ernest F. Neve (1914, first published in 1912)
- Kashmir images from ‘Jungle days; being the experiences of an American woman doctor in India’ (1913) by Dr. Arley Munson.
- Kashmir images from ‘Sport & folklore in the Himalaya’ (1913) by H. L. Haughton.
- Photographs from ‘Our summer in the vale of Kashmir’ (1915) by Frederick Ward Denys.
- A photograph of ‘boat’ ambulance in Srinagar from ‘Ministers of Mercy’ by James Henry Franklin.
- Photographs from ‘Cashmere: three weeks in a houseboat’ (1920) by Ambrose Petrocokino. Also, photographs of the old Hazrat Bal. Year of travel: 1917.
- From ‘The Charm of Kashmir’ (1920) by V.C. Scott O’connor: Kashmir by Abanindranath Tagore [paintings], Brahmans [photograph], A beauty of valley by Miss G. Hadenfeldt [painting], her other Kashmir paintings, The Shepherd’s Daughter [photograph], water color are by Colonel G. Strahan, Kashmir paintings by Mrs. L Sultan Ahmad, photographs of mountains, photographs of nomadic life, other photographs of Kashmir.
- Photographs from Tyndale Biscoe’s book ‘Character Building in Kashmir’ (1920)
- Football. Players 1921. From National Geographic.Vol 40, 1921
- Photographs by R.E. Shorter from ‘Topee and turban, or, Here and there in India’ (1921) by Newell, H. A. Also, from the book photograph of a Pandit woman.
- Photographs from ‘Kashmir in Sunlight & Shade: a Description of the Beauties of the Country, the Life, Habits and Humour of its Inhabitants, and an Account of the Gradual but Steady Rebuilding of a Once Down-trodden People’ by Cecil Earle Tyndale-Biscoe (1922). Also, from this book, photographs by first Kashmiri photographer Pandit Vishwanath: Pandit Marriage and Pandit woman. [A photograph of the photographer and old photographs of pandits]
- Kashmir images from ‘Peoples Of All Nations: Their Life Today And Story Of Their Past’ edited by J.A. Hammerton (1923)
- Franklin Price Knott’s Kashmir in October 1929 issue of National Geographic Magazine. Year of travel: 1927.
- Kashmir by Swiss photographer Martin Hürlimann. Probably from the book ‘Burma, Ceylon, Indo-China'(1930). Year of travel: 1927.
- Photograph of Kashmir from ‘The Oriental Watchman and Herald of Health: A Magazine for Health Home and Happiness’ (January, 1928)
- Photographs of Kashmir by Helmut De Terra (from an expedition that entered Kashmir from Sindh Valley, crossed Ladakh and reached Uighur in China) from year 1933.
- Photographs from ‘Houseboating in Kashmir’ (1934) by Alberta Johnston Denis.
- Illustrations from children’s book ‘Rhamon a boy of Kashmir by Heluiz Washburne, pictured by Roger Duvoisin’ (1939).
- Family portraits of Pandits around 1930s. Shared from private collection by readers. [Near Burzahom, Kashmir ], [Kauls of Ali Kadal]
- Photographs Kashmir by Ram Chand Mehta. 1930s-40s. Also, Kahsmir postcards from Mahatta’s
- Major E Brookman’s photographs of Kashmir in 1943/4 [Shared by a Flickr user]
- Photographs of Kashmir by American serviceman named Robert Keagle in 1945
- A pic of Rozabal from ‘The tomb of Jesus’ by Mutiur Rahman Bengalee (1946)
- Kashmir war refugees, 1947
- War pamphlet Art by Sobha Singh, 1947
- Painting by Kashmiri progressive artists. Later 40s – Early 50s.
- Kashmir in Life magazine. 1940s-50s
- Kashmir images from ‘The road to Shalimar’ by Carveth Wells, 1952.
- Kashmiri Kid on cover of ‘The Oriental Watchman and Herald of Health: A Magazine for Health Home and Happiness’ September 1952.
- Pages from ‘Guide To Kashmir’ published The Tourist Traffic Branch, Ministry of Transport New Delhi in 1954. [Personal Collection]
- Number plate/token for a cycle . Year 1956-57. [Sent in by a reader]
- Village life of “Utrassu-Umanagri” (1957-58), from anthropological study of Pandits by T.N. Madan.
- Brian Brake’s Kashmir, 1957 () [Tracing the commonality in Kashmir imagery from past to present]
- Photographs of village “Utrassu-Umanagri” in year 1957-58, from the book The T.N. Madan Omnibus The Hindu Householder Family and Kinship: A Study of the Pandits of Rural Kashmir Non-Renunciation: Themes and Interpretation of Hindu Culture (2010)
- Photographs of Srinagar city by Douglas Waugh (for what seems to have been a series on ‘modes of transportation’). Shot around late 1950s.
- Kashmir images in ‘Asia’ by Dorothy W. Furman (1960)
- Cinema goer of 1980s in photographs
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And something different
Kashmiris and the tales of Sea
A footnote from ‘Folk-Tales of Kashmir’ by Rev. J. Hinton Knowles (1888).
Video: Arabian Sea at Kochi, Kerala. 2013
Audio: From Pushkar Bhan’s radio play ‘Sindbad Machama’ (1960s)
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Kashmiri Sword and Guns, 1884
Came across these in a German work titled ‘Aus dem westlichen Himalaya: Erlebnisse und Forschungen’ by Károly Jenö Ujfalvy (1884). All these specimen appear to be from Bhaderwah. In Kashmir, the art of gunmaking was introduced during era of Afghan rule. Best of the gunsmiths had shops at Nawatta in Srinagar. There still remain some old makers at Bandook Khar Mohalla, Rainawari (Gunsmith Lane) of the town.
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Previously:
Kashmiri Swords, Divine Bow and Arrows, Shalimar the Clown
Ghat/Yarbal, 1957
While in some parts of India there are still issues like which caste can claim upstream and which caste can claim downstream of a river, the below image captures how Kashmiris, Muslims and Hindus (two women on right are Pandit) were sharing a river, probably without even realizing the significance of it.
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| ‘Jhelum Ghat Scene’ by Brian Brake, 1957 |
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Won’t you come to the Yarbal dear?
I would wash your footlings;
My wounds are unhealed –
Come my Love.
~ Mahmud Gami (1750- 1855)
Ganga Yamuna in Kashmir
Ganga Bank, Rishikesh. 2009
Yamuna Bank. Delhi.2012.
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Below some pages from ‘Vaishava Art and Iconography of Kashmir’ (1996) by Bansi Lal Malla
Ganga in niche on left, Avantisvamin temple, quadrangle porch, outer chamber, northern wall, Avantipur (Pulwama), Mid 9th cent. A.D., Bluish grey limestone.
Yamuna in niche on right, Avantisvamin temple, quadrangle porch, outer chamber, southern wall, Avantipur (Pulwama), Mid 9th cent. A.D., Bluish grey limestone.
Yamuna, Baramulla, 8th cent. A.D., Grey schist. S.P.S. Museum, Srinagar.
Ganga on left, antarala, main shrine, Martanda (Anantnag). First half of 8th cent. A.D., Sun temple, Martanda.
Yamuna, Dhumatbhal (Anantnag). 11th cent. A.D., Present location (?)
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| Vitasta at Zero Bridge. 2010. |
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Kashmir by Mortimer Menpes, 1902-3
Kashmir paintings by Australian artist Mortimer Menpes
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| A Dogra Soldier |
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| Dogra Soldier |
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| A Hindu Shepherd |
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| Kashmiri Pandit |
The above ones are from ‘The Durbar’ (1903) by Mortimer Menpes and Dorothy Menpes based on Delhi Durbar of 1903. The below ones are from an earlier publication ‘World pictures; being a record in colour’ (1902).
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| Natch Girl of Kashmir |
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| Sopora |
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| Dwellings on Jhelum |
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