Clarion call: I interviewed veterans of the world wars in Europe from Punjabi villages, and was able to connect them to a whole other kind of postcard that once existed in abundance — propaganda postcards for the million Indian troops who served in World War I alone. Cards like Comrades had the British Prime Minister Lord Asquith asking Indians to join the British army. Comrades. BB London, series V, photograph by “illustrations bureau,” c. 1914. embossed lithograph/halftone, Divided Back 13.9 x 8.85 cm, 5.47 x 3.48 in.
This article has been excerpted from a forthcoming book, Paper Jewels: Postcards from the Raj by Omar Khan, published by Mapin Publishing, December 2017
Come one, come all: There were beautiful postcards like The (British) Flag in a Gujarati Parsi-Bohri dialect, exhorting people to fight for the British Empire. The (British) flag c. 1914. Coloured halftone, divided back, 14 x 8.8 cm, 5.51 x 3.46 in
United stand: World War I created a stream of Independence-related postcard activity. Annie Besant, an Irish Socialist and women’s rights activist who became head of the Theosophical Society in Chennai, was drawn to Indian spiritual figures in her campaign for Indian Home Rule. She refused to abandon it despite the war, during which she was imprisoned with two colleagues, BP Wadia and GS Arundale, commemorated by. For Freedom’s Sake. BP Wadia. Annie Besant. GS Arundale. Interned June 16, 1917. Home RuleLeague, Madras, 1915. Halftone, Divided Back, 13.95 x 8.95 cm, 5.49 x 3.52 IN
Death be not proud: Lala Lajpat Rai (1865-1928) was attacked and badly injured by the chief British constable on the scene in Lahore on September 30, 1928 while he led a non-violent protest against an all-British commission set up to investigate Indian grievances. He died three weeks later. It was left to the French to publish a postcard of Lala Rajpat Rai which included his immortal words that were instantly on the lips of so many, and which my great-uncle could recite fifty years later as he sat in the veranda of his home in Sahiwal, near Harappa: “I declare that the blows struck at me today will be the last nails in the con of British rule in India...” Lala Lajpat Rai 30 October 1928, died 17 November 1928. Excelsior, Paris, c. 1929. Real photo postcard from painting, divided back, 13.9 x 9 cm, 5.47 x 3.54 in
Coming together: The execution of Bhagat Singh and Sukhdev on March 23rd, 1931— “At that moment Bhagat Singh’s name was as widely known all over India and was as popular as Gandhiji’s” — made the Karachi Congress party meeting held six days later a tense aair. It was here that Congress adopted its Swaraj (“self rule”) resolution for full political and economic freedom, the foundations of the future Indian state. The 1931 session led to an unusual series of postcards by Johnny Stores. They have hand-written captions on the back, and show the under-construction ‘Entrance to the Camp’. Entrance to the Camp. Johnny Stores, Camp, Karachi, 1931. Real photo postcard, divided back, 13.8 x 8.9 cm, 5.43 x 3.50 in
One for all: ‘Hotel in the Camp’. Johnny Stores is also a good example of how most postcard publishers worked both sides: Jankidas, the publisher and also the local British army photographer, used the name “Johnny” only as a familiar British variant. I was delighted to find this rare postcard set on auction because it conveys the often ad hoc nature of such momentous events. It is also a credit to Jankidas the photographer, for these cards were clearly made for limited sale or personal collection. Hotel in the Camp. Johnny Stores, Camp, Karachi, 1931. Real photo postcard, divided back, 13.8 x 8.8 cm, 5.43 x 3.46 in
In solidarity: ‘Two American Congress Supporters’. Two American Congress supportors (supporters). Johnny Stores, Camp, Karachi, 1931. Real photo postcard, divided back, 13.75 x 8.8 cm, 5.41 x 3.46 in.
People’s corner: ‘Native Café in the Camp’. The shamianas and lost little wooden chairs are so very familiar from Karachi weddings or government events waiting in vain for audiences. The photographer also catches little fissures in the Independence movement that would soon prove to be momentous. Looking closely at a card like Native Café, for example, one can see a banner for “Islam Hotel,” with an upturned crescent and star, in other words a separate area for Muslim delegates. It was in the 1930s that the hitherto staunchly Congress Muslims started breaking off in greater and greater numbers. Native Café in the Camp. Johnny Stores, Camp, Karachi, 1931. Real photo postcard, divided back, 13.8 x 8.85 cm, 5.43 x 3.48 in
Many moons ago: An Eid Mubarak card features the leader of the budding Muslim League, Mohammad Ali Jinnah and his sister Fatima Jinnah. Note the two nightingales in the moonlight above the minarets, the careful composition, the familiar palm trees and river flowing into the image frame. Eid Mubarak. (back: Eid greeting). Bolton Fine Art litho, Bombay, c. 1930. Halftone lithograph, divided back, 12.9 x 8.95 cm, 5.08 x 3.52 in
Ode to a nightingale: Srimati Sarojini Naidu, the poetess of the Independence movement. Coloured real photograph, SS Brij Basi & Sons, Karachi, c. 1930. Divided back, 13.9 x 8.8 cm, 5.47 x 3.46 IN
Sea change: Subhas Chandra Bose was imprisoned, and then escaped from Calcutta for Berlin where he joined the Axis powers and supported the Japanese war effort as the quickest means to bring Independence to India (by then the Raj had become intolerable to many, especially the young in his home province of Bengal which was suffering from a famine caused by the diversion of grain to the troops fighting Britain’s war). He is shown here in Indian National Army uniform. Subhas Chandra Bose. Rajni, c. 1948. Lithograph, plain back, 14.2 x 8.95 cm, 5.59 x 3.52 in. (Verso, translated from Gujarati)
Sea change: Subhas Chandra Bose was imprisoned, and then escaped from Calcutta for Berlin where he joined the Axis powers and supported the Japanese war effort as the quickest means to bring Independence to India (by then the Raj had become intolerable to many, especially the young in his home province of Bengal which was suffering from a famine caused by the diversion of grain to the troops fighting Britain’s war). Srimati Subhaschandar Bose. SS Brij Basi & Sons, Karachi, c. 1930. Sepia coloured real photograph halftone, divided back, 13.8 x 8.8 cm, 5.45 x 3.46 in
New beginnings: Congress Indian postcards from Independence have a hopeful edge to them, like the first day postcard issue, Jai Hind, mailed in Calcutta on August 15. Jai Hind. HG Chakraverti, Serampore, Bengal, 1947. Coloured halftone, divided back, 14.5 x 8.85 cm, 5.71 x 3.48 in.
Paper Jewels: Postcards from the Raj; Omar Khan; Non-fiction; Mapin Publishing; ₹4,500
Published on August 11, 2017
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