Very Rare Historical Photos of India

These photos are basically an amalgamation of various historical events that have taken place,and also a few iconic shots from the time when the camera was a luxury!   1]  A wedding in the Rambagh Palace dating back to the 1940's.      The bride pictured here is,Maharani Gayatri Devi,a woman described by Vogue as one of the most beautiful woman in the world.   2]  One of Mumbai's most prestigious beaches,the Chowpatty beach.   3]  Pilots of the Indian Air Force welcomed by the London Police,October,1940.   4]  A Scottish bride in India,1920.   5] The Calcutta Tram in 1940's.   6] Gandhiji just a day before his assassination.    7] The aerial view of Mumbai in 1940.   8] Mass migration,1947.   9] Gandhiji with textile workers at Lancashire,Darwen, ​   ​ 26th September,1931.   10] Cheetahs used as hunting animals in India,February 1942.     11] The children of the Maharaja of Mysore.The elder princesses wear the traditional belted sarees with woven checks.The littlest girl’s costume is  not really visible, but it is different from her sisters. This was taken soon after the Maharaja’s death from diptheria, leaving their mother as  Regent until ten-year-old Krishnaraja IV came of age. He ruled   Mysore,until 1940, highly praised for the cultural and technological advancements of his state.   12]  Dalai Lama at age 2,1937.   13] Royal children from Patiala,1930   14] Homai Vyarawala,India's first female photographer.   15] A zebra cart in Calcutta,1930.   16] Vijayaraje Scindia (from the royal family) in the 1940's in a gold    bordered sari. A style so popular in the 30s/early 40s.   17] Official portrait of Queen Victoria as Empress of India, showing her  sitting on the Travancore ivory throne and wearing the sash of the Order of Neshan Aftab,presented to her by the Shah of Persia.     18] George V and Queen Mary of England were crowned Emperor and Empress of India at Delhi in 1911.   19]Here’s Subhash Chandra Bose at his residence in Calcutta during late 1920s.   20]The Panar maneater,said to have made over 400 confirmed human kills, shot by Jim Corbett in 1910 in Kumaon, Northern India.   21] Executioner, India, 1903   22]In 1896, the military transferred Churchill to what was then Bombay, British India. While in India, Winston became a championship caliber   polo player and captain of the regimental team. Unlike his fellow  officers, however, Winston took advantage of his spare time to embark on a rigorous program of self-education.   Gosh he was gorgeous!    23]Victims of the 1899-1900 famine in colonial India.The British Viceroy of India, Lord Curzon,feared that aid to the starving would cause them to become dependent on hand-outs, so British aid was seriously inadequate, at best. Despite the fact that Great Britain had been profiting greatly from its holdings in India for more than a century, the British stood aside and allowed millions of people in the British Raj to starve to death.   24] Calcutta policeman.   25]Young Russian children taking a lesson in Hindi. (In the 1950s the Soviet Union and India were on friendly terms.)   26]Lord & Lady Curzon - India Early 1900s   27]Kolkata street in 1900.   28] Devdasis from Tamil Nadu,1920   29]The Briolette of India is a legendary diamond of 90.38 carats, which, if the fables about it are true, may be the oldest diamond on record, perhaps older than the Koh-I-Noor Diamond. In the 12th century, Eleanor of Aquitaine, the first Queen of France and later England, brought the stone to England. Her son, Richard the Lionhearted, is said to have taken it on the Third Crusade.   30]Maharajah Jaya Chamaraja Wadiyar of Mysore with his sisters.1928.   31]Taken in India in the early 1920s. A man sitting on a termite hill.   32]Queen Victoria with her Indian servant Abdul Karim whom she called  Munshi(teacher) and who taught her Hindi.   33]King George V & his Consort Queen Mary at The Royal Durbar in Delhi to be proclaimed as King Emperor of India, 1911.     34]A bride of the British Raj: Iris Butler on her wedding day - she was one of the "fishing fleet" who went to India to find husbands.