Twentieth-Century Srinagar Trades & Neighborhood Life Photos

A collection of old photographs showing everyday street trades and domestic routines in Srinagar during the twentieth century. The pictures include a baker handing fresh bread to a customer in the 1970s with shelves full of loaves; a portrait of a traditional kulfi seller known for handcrafted treats; a woman husking rice with a wooden pestle and stone mortar in early twentieth-century attire; a modest bakery shop with decorative woodwork and stacked breads; a studio portrait of Hafiza performers from the early twentieth-century dance tradition; children washing clothes along the Jhelum River bank in the late twentieth century; and a neighborhood shop in the 1980s with vegetable displays, pedestrians, and a cinema poster nearby. Simple views of old Kashmir.

This photograph shows a Kashmiri baker in Srinagar during the 1970s, handing freshly baked bread to a customer across a wooden counter. Behind him, shelves are stacked with round breads and baked items, reflecting the scale and simplicity of neighborhood bakeries that served local communities daily. Such bakeries were an essential part of urban life, providing affordable food staples to families across the city. During this period, a single bread would cost only a few paise, making it accessible to all sections of society. The image preserves a moment of everyday economic and social exchange, highlighting traditional livelihoods and the close relationship between local traders and residents in Srinagar before rising costs and changing consumption patterns altered this familiar scene.

A portrait photograph of a traditional kulfi seller from Srinagar, remembered for his association with handcrafted kulfi that became part of the city’s summer culture during the twentieth century. The image focuses on the individual rather than his trade setting, highlighting the human presence behind a profession that relied on reputation, skill, and long-standing trust within the local community. Such kulfi sellers were widely recognized figures in Srinagar, known personally to residents and remembered for their distinctive methods and consistency rather than commercial display. This portrait serves as a visual record of a small-scale artisan whose work left a lasting impression on everyday urban life in Kashmir.

A vintage portrait of a Kashmiri woman engaged in the traditional process of husking rice using a wooden pestle and a large stone mortar, locally known as muhul and kanz. Dressed in customary attire, she stands barefoot on an earthen path, reflecting the everyday domestic labor that formed the backbone of rural life in Kashmir during the early twentieth century. The heavy earrings she wears, commonly associated with traditional adornment, further emphasize the cultural setting of the period. This method of rice processing was widespread before mechanized mills became common, and such scenes were once a regular part of household activity across Kashmir. The photograph serves as an important visual record of women’s labor, agricultural practice, and material culture in pre-industrial Kashmiri society.

A traditional bakery shop in Srinagar, photographed during the early to mid twentieth century, showing shelves densely stacked with round bread loaves behind a wooden counter. The baker is seated inside the shop, visible through the open service window, reflecting the modest scale and everyday character of neighborhood bakeries in Kashmir. Such establishments were integral to urban life, supplying fresh bread to local residents on a daily basis and operating from small, often ornately detailed storefronts. The decorative woodwork and handwritten signage visible on the façade illustrate the blend of craftsmanship and functionality that defined Srinagar’s street-level commerce during this period. The image documents a familiar social space where food, routine, and community interaction intersected.

A studio portrait of Hafiza performers of Kashmir, an early twentieth century tradition in which women performed refined dance.

A color photograph showing children gathered along the stone steps of the Jhelum River bank in Srinagar, likely taken during the late twentieth century. Some children are seated on the steps while others wash clothes at the water’s edge, reflecting everyday domestic routines carried out along the river. The Jhelum served as a vital lifeline for the city, providing water for washing, cleaning, and household needs, particularly in neighborhoods located close to its banks. Such scenes were common in Srinagar, where riverfront steps functioned as shared community spaces and informal extensions of domestic life. The image captures a quiet moment of childhood and routine activity within the broader rhythm of river-centered urban living in Kashmir.

A street-level view from Srinagar during the 1980s showing a small neighborhood shop operating beneath a prominently displayed cinema film poster. Pedestrians, including children, move through the foreground while customers interact with the shopkeeper at the counter. Stacked vegetables and everyday goods are visible, reflecting the mixed commercial nature of urban streets where retail, cinema culture, and daily life intersected. Such streets formed the backbone of Srinagar’s local economy, combining food supply, informal social exchange, and popular culture within modest wooden storefronts. The image documents the texture of everyday urban life in Kashmir during the late twentieth century, before large-scale commercial changes altered the character of these neighborhoods.