Kashmir Through Old Photographs

This post brings together early photographs from Kashmir, spanning the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and documenting everyday life across rivers, villages, institutions, and sacred spaces. The images include the Hazratbal Shrine, royal river processions on the Jhelum, children at a hospital school, rural family life, canal-side Srinagar near Barbarshah Bridge, houseboat culture below Takht-i-Suleiman, public health vaccination work, rice processing by children, women spinning thread in Sopore, and river scenes near Baramulla. Together, these photographs show how work, worship, education, health, and movement were closely woven into the landscape and daily rhythms of Kashmir before modern transformation.  This early 20th-century photograph from the 1920s, originally captioned "Hasrat Bal. The Mosque.", shows the historic Hazratbal Shrine (Dargah Sharif) in Srinagar, Kashmir, in its original wooden form before the modern marble reconstruction. Considered the ho...

A collection of old photographs showing daily life and movement in Kashmir from the early 1900s to the 1980s. The pictures include a winter view of Hotel Highland Park in Gulmarg during the 1970s with heavy snowfall, a shikara on Dal Lake in Srinagar in the 1970s, the riverside near Chinar Bagh in Srinagar in 1906 with moored boats, a bridge and riverfront in Srinagar during the 1960s–1970s with stacked timber logs, the riverfront in Baramulla in the early 1900s with wooden buildings and boats, a panoramic view of Srinagar with dense houses and mountains, the Fateh Kadal bridge area in Srinagar, a shikara on Dal Lake in the 1980s, flower sellers in small boats on Dal Lake in the 1980s, and the Del Camp area in Gulmarg with cottage-style houses. Simple views of lakes, rivers, and waterfronts in old Kashmir. A winter view of Hotel Highland Park in Gulmarg during the 1970s, with the building surrounded by heavy snowfall and dense forest in the background. Snowbanks rise high around the...

A collection of old photographs showing everyday landscapes and community life in Srinagar and Baramulla from the 1870s to the 1960s. The pictures include the Dalgate weir and lock system in the 1880s with wooden boats along earthen embankments; houseboats and residential buildings along Dal Gate in 1960 with traditional mud roofs; a panoramic view of the Zero Bridge site around 1910 with houseboats, the Srinagar Club, and Chunt Kul canal; medical treatment outdoors at the Mission Hospital in Baramulla in the early 20th century by missionary sisters; an elevated 1875 view of the River Jhelum and Fateh Kadal bridge with densely clustered wooden houses on both banks; and a Kashmiri woman with a child in traditional attire at Nishat Garden in 1964. Simple views of old Kashmir. This rare 1880s photograph documents the Dalgate area of Srinagar, showing the early weir and lock system that regulated the outflow of Dal Lake into the River Jhelum. Dalgate served as one of the two primary ou...

A collection of old photographs showing everyday urban scenes in Baramulla and Srinagar from the 1860s to the 1980s. The pictures include an 1875 aerial view of Baramulla with its historic wooden cantilever bridge over the Veth River, cultivated fields, and early settlements; a narrow downtown Srinagar street in the 1970s with freshly tarred road and traditional buildings; Habba Kadal Chowk in 1982 as a busy junction with shops, pedestrians, and banners; multi-storey wooden houses along a narrow water channel in Srinagar from the 1860s–1880s; a market lane around 1980 with hanging fabrics, handcarts, and textile sellers; and Lal Chowk near the Gurdwara around 1970 with shopfronts, cyclists, and people walking. Simple views of old Kashmir. This rare aerial photograph captures Baramulla as seen in 1875 from the right bank of Veth, looking upstream toward the historic wooden cantilever Baramulla Old Bridge, commonly known as the Six Pier Bridge. The structure is distinguished by its w...