Street Scene, Bombay (Mumbai) - Circa 1870s - 1880s

Source: getty.edu

Stairway in Anuradhapura - Sri Lanka, c. 1870's

Source: Ebay seller dontskip

Portrait of a Seated Girl Wearing Jewellery, from Madras in Tamil Nadu - 1872

Studio portrait of a seated girl wearing jewellery, from Madras in Tamil Nadu, taken in c. 1872, from the Archaeological Survey of India Collections.
This photograph is attributed to the Madras School of Industrial Arts which was an important training centre for photographers in the area, established in 1850. Many examples of jewellery from India were shown at the London Universal Exhibition of 1872 and this photograph may have been one of those exhibited to demonstrate the way it was worn. The girl is wearing the fine ceremonial sari and jewelled head-dress worn by a bride on her wedding day.

Source: British Library

Two young Women and a Child, Displaying Jewellery, at Madras (Chennai) in Tamil Nadu - c.1870's

This photograph is attributed to the Madras School of Industrial Arts which was an important training centre for photographers in the area, established in 1850. The two women pictured here are wearing rings, earrings, noserings, bracelets, necklaces, and anklets.
Source: British Library

Studio portrait of Three Girls Wearing Jewellery - Madras (Chennai), Tamil Nadu 1870's

This photograph is attributed to the Madras School of Industrial Arts which was an important training centre for photographers in the area, established in 1850. The young girl on the left is wearing the half-sari which is the traditional dress of adolescent girls in the South Indian states. The girl in the centre of the photograph is wearing the jewelled head-dress traditionally worn at marriage ceremonies or at 'rites of passage' ceremonies performed when a girl reaches puberty.

Source: British Library (bl.uk)

Studio Portrait of Five Women Wearing Jewellery, Madras (Chennai) - c.1870's

This photograph is attributed to The Madras School of Industrial Arts which was an important training centre for photographers in the area, established in 1850. The two girls standing behind the three seated women are wearing the jewelled head-dress traditionally worn at marriage ceremonies or at 'rites of passage' ceremonies performed when a girl reaches puberty.

Source: British Library

Punjab Public Library - Lahore, British India (Currently in Pakistan) 1870s

Photograph of the Punjabi Public Library in Lahore from the 'Bellew Collection: Photograph album of Surgeon-General Henry Walter Bellew' taken by George Craddock in the 1870s. Lahore is the capital of the Punjab province in Pakistan. The city has been ruled by the Ghaznavids, the Delhi Sultanate, the Mughals, the Sikhs and the British. The Punjab Public Library was established in the late 19th century.

Source: British Library

General view of the Government Normal School, Varanasi (Benares), with pupil-teachers leaving the school to go to their barracks - 1870

Photograph of the Government Normal School at Varanasi (Benares) in Uttar Pradesh from the Archaeological Survey of India Collections: India Office Series (Volume 46), taken by D. Tresham in c. 1870. This view looks across the gardens towards the main brick building, with pupils grouped in front. Images like this were often exhibited at European Universal Exhibitions and this one is inscribed on the album page, 'Exhibitor H.H. the Maharaja of Benares...Taken by D. Tresham Esquire, Hd Master Govt. Normal School, Benares. After exhibition to be placed at the disposal of H.Exy. the Sec. of State for India.' Normal schools trained teachers and The Imperial Gazetteer of India states, "In the case of primary teachers and the lower masters of secondary schools the courses of study and the examinations are organized by the Local Governments, and central and District schools are maintained for their instruction by the Government, and in some cases by local boards and missionary societies...Stipends are frequently given to the pupils, who then bind themselves to teach for a specified period. The courses include general and technical subjects and practical training."

Source: British Library

The Planting & Manufacture of Indigo in India by French photographer Oscar Mallitte - Allahabad, 1877

Indigo planting in Bengal started around 1777. Indigo planting became more and more commercially profitable due to the demand for blue dye in Europe. It was introduced in large parts of eastern India. The indigo planters mercilessly pursued the peasants to plant indigo instead of food crops. They provided loans, called dadon at a very high interest. Once a farmer took such loans he remained in debt for whole of his life before passing it to his successors. The price paid by the planters was meagre,only 2.5% of the market price. The farmers could make no profit growing indigo. The farmers were totally unprotected from the brutal indigo planters, who resorted to mortgages or destruction of their property if they were unwilling to obey them. Government rules favoured the planters. By an act in 1833, the planters were granted a free hand in oppression. Even the zamindars, money lenders and other influential persons sided with the planters. Out of the severe oppression unleashed on them the farmers resorted to revolt.

Know more about Indigo Revolt in Wikipeida

 

Planter's Bungalow

"Luggie" (measuring lands for cultivation)

"Tumnie" (turning up lands)

Sowing with drills

Cutting Indigo plant in the field and Loading Carts

Indigo factory (Loading the Vats)

Loading a vat with plant

Indigo factory (beating the Vats)

Beating a vat by hand

Beating by Machinery

Apparatus for beating by machinery

Indigo boilers and fecula table

Press house

Pumping the fecula into boilers

Pressing the fecula

Drying house (Indigo cakes on Shelves)

Cutting Indigo into Cakes

Bailing water in time of drought

Persian Wheel

Group of Indigo beaters

Digital image courtesy of the Getty's Open Content Program.

Darjeeling Hill Railway under Construction on One of the Loops of the Railway, Probably at Rangtong - 1879

Photographer:Bourne and Shepherd
Source: British Library

Albumen Photograph of a Woman - Ceylon (Sri Lanka) - 1870's

Source: ebay

Agra Palace 1870s

Source: ebay.com

The Rasmancha Temple, Bishnupur, Bankura District, Bengal - 1860-70's

Photographed in 1869
Photographer: Walter Campbell


Photographed in 1869
Photographer: Walter Campbell


Photographed in 1872
Photographer: Joseph David Beglar

The temples of Bishnupur were built under the Malla rulers of Bengal, fervent adherents of the Vaishnavite movement which flourished in the area from the fifteenth century onwards. The Rasa Mancha temple was built by the ruler Bir Hambir in the early seventeenth century. The temple is not dedicated to a particular deity but every year all the images of the gods are brought there during the Ras festival. Standing on a high plinth, the temple is unique in the sub-continent in its architectural form and style. It has a central square chamber surrounded on all sides by three tiered gallery arcades and roofed with an impressive pyramical structure. No inscriptions survive.

Portrait of Delhi man, 1878

Portrait of Delhi man, 1878

A Residential Building at 2 Middleton Street, Calcutta (Kolkata) - April 1870

View of the front of a large stone house. A portico covers the entrance and features an awning that partially covers the second story. A woman stands beneath the open portico while two men stand with a horse-drawn carriage on the right, and two more stand with a saddled horse farther down the drive on the left.



View of the rear of a large stone house featuring a second floor veranda with Ionic columns. A railing runs along the veranda between the columns, and slatted shades that have been lowered halfway cover the veranda. Several men and women stand at the railing along the porch and on the ground in front of the house.

View of the front of a large stone house. A portico covers the entrance and features an awning that partially covers the second story. Two men stand with a horse-drawn carriage on the dirt drive on the right, and two more stand with a saddled horse farther down the drive on the left.

Source: http://www.getty.edu

Teesta (Tista) River, Darjeeling - Circa 1870

The Tista is a tributary of the Brahmaputra River, flowing through India and Bangladesh. It rises in the Himalayas near Chunthang, Sikkim, flows south cutting a deep gorge through the Darjeeling Himalaya, and turns southeast to run through Sivok Gota Pass onto the plains of West Bengal. It then crosses the Rangpur region of Bangladesh to join the Brahmaputra River.

Source: British Library

Fish Sellers - 1870s

Fish Sellers

View of a Street with Palm Tree - India Circa 1870's

Source: ebay Seller pumpparkphotos

Magician showing Indian Basket Trick - c1870

Source: 19cphoto.com

Contributor: Anthony Davis (antiqphoto@earthlink.net)

The Queen's Statue, Bombay (Mumbai) - Circa 1870s

View of the statue of Queen Victoria by Matthew Noble, seated beneath an ornate marble canopy. Also visible are six people looking toward the statue, including four native men dressed in the typical Parsi or Parsee garments and headgear.

Source: getty.edu