Kashmir Through Old Photographs

A collection of old photographs and a painting showing daily life in Kashmir from the 1850s to the 1980s. The pictures include a mid-19th century painting of life along the Nalamar canal in Srinagar with wooden houses and river activities; Firdaus Cinema at Hawal in Srinagar around 1980 with street views; children playing in a residential street in Srinagar during the 1960s; a Nalchhi Ghar workshop in Srinagar around 1980 where traditional hookah pipes were made; a quiet roadside in Sonamarg in 1972 with traditional buildings and snowy mountains; and Kashmiri children near Dal Lake in Srinagar during the 1970s. Simple views of old Kashmir. This evocative mid-19th century watercolor painting captures the serene, timeless rhythm of life along the narrow Nalamar canal in Srinagar, Kashmir, where locals in traditional attire navigate slender shikara boats laden with goods and passengers, while women sit on the water’s edge washing or conversing, framed by the distinctive multi-storied K...

A collection of old photographs showing everyday activities, crafts, streets, and waterways in Kashmir from the early 1900s to the 1980s. The pictures include men gathered at a tailoring shop in Srinagar in 1911 with a Singer sewing machine; artisans drying handmade paper sheets in 1914; a busy street scene at Habba Kadal in Srinagar during the 1980s with shops, tonga, and pedestrians; young men diving into Dal Lake in 1926; traditional bath houses along the River Jhelum in Srinagar in 1964; a vegetable seller in a boat loaded with knol khol in 1948; a boatman on Dal Lake with produce; the Choont Kul canal lined with houses and boats; a woman cleaning rice outdoors; and houseboats moored along the shoreline in 1934. Simple views of old Kashmir. This rare black-and-white photograph, taken by British photographer R.E. Shorter in 1911, captures a group of Kashmiri men gathered outside a traditional tailoring shop in Srinagar, dressed in customary early 20th-century attire including flo...