Indian maps, myths & travel legends
In conversation with professional geographer Dr Manosi Lahiri about the ways in which travellers have helped to draw the map of India
Travel
Mughal Sarais, where caravans & cultures mingled
Along the ancient Silk Road and the historic Grand Trunk Road lay a series of rest-stops and inns called sarais where caravans of travellers, pilgrims and traders could break their journey
Souvenir series: Notes from a solo woman traveller in India
Fanny Parkes’s richly illustrated journals give us a sense of the freedom that the author experienced as a woman traveller in 19th-century India
Destination India, a reading list
Five books that showcase how the world once saw India
Open Roads
For our 36th edition of Sarmaya Spotlight, we bring you the most picturesque destinations, thrilling travel stories and colourful souvenirs from across the Subcontinent
Souvenir series: Pilgrims to Nathdwara take these paintings home
Pichwai paintings were born in the temple town of Nathdwara in Rajasthan and centre the 8-year-old deity, Shrinathji
Souvenir series: A rare photo of Dal Lake in the 1800s
On the banks of the Dal Lake with a physician-turned-photographer-turned-mountaineer
Summer Holidays: The origin of India’s hill-stations
From the Himalayas to the Nilgiris, the mountain slopes of India are home to hill-stations. Built by the British, these were sanctuaries designed to get them through sickness and long summers
Mughal Sarais, where caravans & cultures mingled
Along the ancient Silk Road and the historic Grand Trunk Road lay a series of rest-stops and inns called sarais where caravans of travellers, pilgrims and traders could break their journey
A voyage from England to India, in the year MDCCLIV
A voyage from England to India was published in the late 18th century and contains two large folding maps and 13 etched illustrations. It recollects Edward Ives’s (1719-1786) service in India with the British Army. Edward Ives was a surgeon on board the flagship Kent, commanded by Charles Watson (1714-1757). The travelogue chronicles Ives’ remarks… Read more »
Wanderings of a Pilgrim; Rarebook by Fanny Parkes Parlby
‘Wanderings of a Pilgrim, in Search of the Picturesque, During Four-and-Twenty Years in the East; With Revelations of Life in the Zenana’ was authored by Fanny Parkes Parlby. Published by P. Richardson in 1850, the rarebook includes several illustrations and offers a British female perspective on Indian life in the 19th century.
Bombaim, an island of dancing snakes & giant frogs
A sometimes quaint, sometimes bizarre view of 18th-century Bombay and its flora and fauna through our rare books collection
Banker, soldier, artist, lover
Artist Robert Melville Grindlay’s colour-drenched, soft-focus landscapes of western India point to a lifelong infatuation
An Officer at Rest flanked by Native Attendants
This is most likely a staged photograph of a European official flanked by his attendants. While one performs the role of the traditional chauri-bearer, waving a large bamboo hand fan, and another holds the base of an elbaorate hookah, a third standing figure on the left of the official seems to be bringing in official… Read more »
Bene Israel teachers, Bombay
The subjects of this photograph belong to the historic community of Jews in India known as ‘Bene Israel’. Dressed in traditional attire, they are teachers of the Free Church of Scotland’s Mission School and the Jewish English School in Bombay, British India. This photograph was originally published between 1855-1862 in Photographs of Western India, Volume I,… Read more »
Madras; Native Fishermen
Fishing in India is a community based profession, and the fishemen communities in Tamil Nadu comprise Mukkuvar, Paravar, Chetti, and Pattinavar among others. The three native fishermen in the photograph are seen here on the Madras(now Chennai) shoreline donning the local attire. Their traditional boat, known as the kattumaram was the first two hull boat… Read more »
Darjeeling
Samuel Bourne’s Himalayan expedition was an arduous one as he pursued photography and documented the untouvhed landscapes and sights in India. This photograph from the 1860s shows the giant or King fern, flora typical to this region.
Himalaya; View of the Kullu Landscape
This photograph of the Wanga Valley by Samuel Bourne captured in 1863 showing the Himlayan glaciers. During his three Himalayan expeditions, Bourne photo documented landscapes in compoistions and artistic styles that appealed to the Victorian notions of the ‘picturesque’ and unusual landscapes such as this image formed a category in itself.
Mount Abu; View of the Nukhi Talao (now Nakki Talav)
This is a photograph of the Nakki talao, Mount Abu, from James Burgess’ book ‘Photographs of Architecture and Scenery in Gujarat and Rajputana’ taken by Colin Murray in 1872. The hill station of Mount Abu is an important place of worship for Jain pilgrimages. It is a popular tourist attaraction, renowned for the group of… Read more »
View of the Cascading Waters of the Scinde Valley
Photograph of a glacier in Kashmir taken by Samuel Bourne in 1863. During his three Himalayan expeditions, Bourne photo documented landscapes in compoistions and artistic styles that appealed to the Victorian notions of the ‘picturesque’ and unusual landscapes such as this image formed a category in itself.