Village Children & River Life in Old Kashmir Photographs

A collection of old photographs showing everyday rural and urban scenes in Kashmir from the late 19th century to the 1930s. The pictures include village children outside a stone house in 1937; a busy stepped street in Srinagar with wooden buildings; schoolboys doing gymnastics in an early 20th century courtyard; the wild Dal Lake wetland ecosystem before modern changes; vibrant River Jhelum yarbal in Srinagar in 1924 with washing and boats; a busy Jhelum riverbank with cantilever bridge in the early 1900s; Kashmiri Pandit peasant women with baskets in the 1890s; traditional musicians playing rabab; Hari Parbat hill and fort in 1920; and the entrance to Baramulla with moored doongas in 1880. Simple views of old Kashmir.

This photograph shows a group of village children standing together outside a modest stone-built house in rural Kashmir in August 1937. Their clothing, posture, and bare surroundings reflect everyday life in the countryside during this period, where childhood was closely tied to the rhythms of village life. Such homes, built with locally available stone and earth, were common across rural Kashmir and often housed extended families. Images like this provide a quiet record of ordinary childhood in the valley, shaped by limited material resources, close-knit communities, and a landscape where daily life unfolded largely outdoors.

This photograph shows a busy street scene in Srinagar, with people gathered along a stepped passage framed by traditional multi-storeyed wooden buildings. Men, women, and children appear along the sides of the street, while two figures walk in the foreground, suggesting a moment of everyday movement through a shared urban space. The carved wooden façades, projecting balconies, and enclosed upper floors reflect the characteristic architecture of old Srinagar neighbourhoods, where streets were narrow and closely built around community life. Such scenes were common in the city before large-scale modern redevelopment, when streets functioned not only as routes of passage but also as places for social interaction, observation, and daily routine.

Photograph shows a group of schoolboys performing gymnastics exercises in an open courtyard in Srinagar, watched by fellow students, teachers, and visitors, during the early years of the twentieth century. The setting, with simple stone buildings and an improvised exercise apparatus, reflects the emphasis placed on physical training in some modern schools operating in the city at this time. Such activities marked a departure from traditional classroom-based learning, introducing structured physical discipline alongside academic instruction. Gymnastics, drills, and outdoor exercises became a visible part of school life, intended to build strength, coordination, and collective discipline. Scenes like this illustrate how education spaces in Srinagar were gradually changing during this period, combining formal schooling with new routines that were unfamiliar to many local communities but increasingly present in urban educational institutions.

Before the construction of Boulevard Road in the early 20th century, Dal Lake was a largely wild and unconfined wetland ecosystem characterized by a maze of intricate waterways, vast marshes, and floating gardens. The shoreline was defined not by tarmac but by the majestic Mughal gardens built in the 16th and 17th centuries, which served as summer retreats for emperors and were approachable only by boat. The lake was inhabited by the Mir Behris and Hanji communities, who lived an "amphibious" lifestyle, cultivating floating islands of vegetation (known as Raad) and transporting produce like melons and tomatoes to the city via the Mar Canal. The modern transformation began in 1928 with the construction of the "Karan Boulevard" (named after Prince Karan Singh), which was completed in 1932; this project permanently altered the lake's hydrology by separating the southwestern portion from the main body, creating the marshy fringes near the Shankaracharya and Zabarwan mountains that were eventually reclaimed for urban development.

Srinagar 1924. In the 1920s, Srinagar's yarbal (ghats, or riverfronts) were the vibrant heart of the city's social and economic life, where the River Jhelum served as the primary transport artery. These "places of friendship" saw constant activity as women gathered to wash clothes and fetch water in nouts (clay pots), men bathed, and numerous shikaras and doongas (houseboats) plied the waters, ferrying goods like melons and tomatoes. Traditional wooden houses with overhanging daabs (bay windows) lined the banks, their entrances often oriented toward the water to observe the bustling activity. The construction of the Chattabal weir in the early 1900s helped manage the water levels, ensuring the river remained a vital and navigable trade route and a central hub for community interaction.

The image is a historic photograph from the early 1900s that captures a vivid scene of daily life and transport on the River Jhelum in Srinagar. In the foreground, there is a busy riverbank with numerous traditional, flat-bottomed doonga boats, some with thatched roofs, where people are gathered and working. Spanning the river in the middle ground is a traditional Kashmiri wooden cantilever bridge, known locally as a kadal, with stone foundations and a wooden superstructure that appears to be well-used. The background showcases the dense, vernacular architecture of the old city, featuring multi-story wooden houses with characteristic daab (projecting bay windows) lining the riverbanks under a partially cloudy sky.

 

Historic photograph from the late 19th century, often attributed to the 1890s, capturing a rural scene in Jammu and Kashmir. The image features two women, identified in some historical sources as Kashmiri Pandit peasant women, posing with large wicker baskets on their heads. They are dressed in traditional, loose-fitting garments known as pherans, worn over their daily clothes, and have their heads covered with scarves. The third individual, likely a young boy, is seated between them. The photograph highlights the use of wickerwork (known locally as Veer Kani or Keani Keam), a significant traditional craft where baskets and other items are woven from willow branches for various daily chores and farming activities. The background shows natural surroundings, emphasizing an agrarian way of life where communities worked the land and tended animals.

A gathering of traditional Kashmiri musicians in the early 20th century highlights the region's rich musical heritage, with several men seated and playing the rabab, a lute-like string instrument. Originating from Afghanistan, the rabab was adopted centuries ago and became an essential part of Kashmiri folk music and Sufiyana Qalam. This scene captures a moment of community life and the instrument's deep cultural importance as the "soul of Kashmiri folk singing" in an era before modern influences took hold. The players are surrounded by local men and boys, emphasizing the communal nature of music and storytelling that has connected generations in the valley.

The iconic Hari Parbat hill in this 1920 photograph (also known as Kohimaraan or Pradyumna Peeth) stands as a symbol of Kashmir's multifaceted history and cultural harmony. While the outer wall (rampart) was initially commissioned by the Mughal Emperor Akbar in 1590 CE as part of an unfinished new capital city, the present fort structure atop the hill was constructed much later in 1808 by the Afghan governor Atta Mohammad Khan during Durrani rule. The hill is a significant spiritual site, housing the shrine of the Sufi saint Makhdoom Sahib, Sikh Gurdwara, and a temple reflecting centuries of peaceful coexistence. The rugged foreground of the photo shows the undeveloped land around the hill before the urban expansion that would define modern Srinagar, offering a glimpse into the valley's past landscape.

This 1880 photograph captures the strategic and historic entrance to the Kashmir Valley at Baramulla (also known as Varmul), a town that served as the primary gateway for goods and travelers arriving from Rawalpindi and Muzaffarabad until the mid-20th century. Before the Jhelum Valley Cart Road was completed in 1889, all visitors, including Mughal emperors like Akbar and Jahangir who had a special fascination for the town, would stop here and continue their journey to Srinagar by boat. The image shows traditional doonga boats moored along the bank of the River Jhelum at the point where the river leaves the valley through a gorge, highlighting the vital role water transport played in the region's trade and travel networks during this era.