Glimpses of South Asia before 1947

February 8, 2008 4:38 AM

Glimpses of South Asia before 1947 1,150 illustrated pages by the world's leading Ancient Indus Civilization scholars 774 photographs, postcards, lithographs, engravings, and archival film of India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka before 1947
posted by UbuRoivas (8 comments total)

Thank you, this would have been so nice to show my mum. I'll show it to my kids
posted by paradise at 6:55 AM on February 8, 2008

Again I learn that my knowledge of Asian cultures and history is woefully superficial.
posted by Burhanistan at 8:11 AM on February 8, 2008

Life was so much easier then.
posted by monospace at 8:31 AM on February 8, 2008

Unbelievably rich. Saved for later exploration—thanks!
posted by languagehat at 11:23 AM on February 8, 2008

Fabulous post UbuRoivas! My apology for doing a vintage Asia postcard post today, it never dawned on me anyone would have already done one, and a way better one, today. Dang, guess you and I were on a similar wavelength. What frequency are you tuned in on?

Omar Khan's Harappa site is absolutely the best of the web, an extraordinary labor of love and massively informative. A veritable visual feast and excellent resource.

Omar Khan is creator of the award-winning website Harappa.com, a gateway to South Asian history. He grew up in Austria and Pakistan, where he later worked for UNICEF and produced a series of educational videos for Pakistan's Parliament. He is a graduate of Dartmouth College, Columbia and Stanford universities, and has been researching Raj photography for over a decade. His article John Burke, Photo-Artist of the Raj appeared in History of Photography in Autumn 1997. He will soon publish an online database of nearly one thousand photographers active in the subcontinent from 1845 until 1947. He lives in San Francisco where he runs an Internet services firm, ISL Consulting.

He's created a beautiful book, From Kashmir to Kabul.
posted by nickyskye at 4:14 PM on February 8, 2008

My apology for doing a vintage Asia postcard post today, it never dawned on me anyone would have already done one

You say that like it's possible to grow tired of exotic vintage postcards!
posted by UbuRoivas at 7:15 PM on February 8, 2008

Bombay, Then and now. Wow.
posted by the cydonian at 3:16 AM on February 9, 2008

Dang, guess you and I were on a similar wavelength

That makes three of us:) I guess I'll post mine in a day or two.

cydonian, that is amazing isn't it?
posted by hadjiboy at 11:50 AM on February 9, 2008