South Asia Collection Resources: Photographs from India Post-Independence

"Merchant Jaipur North"

Photographs from India Post-Independence

The India Post-Independence Photo Collection is a collection of 36 photographs taken from the moment of Indian independence in 1947 through 1959. Some of the photographs were issued by the Press Information Bureau (PIB) of the Government of India, some by the United States Information Service (USIS), and some by Life Magazine photographers.

The content of the photographs vary. There are images of statesmen, such as Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, Lord Mountbatten, U.S. President Eisenhower, and the first President of India—Dr. Rajendra Prasad; political activity, including campaigns and protests; village life and agricultural activities; merchants engaged in business; and portraits of ordinary people in a wide variety of locations and settings, from Trichinopoly (Tiruchirappalli), and Madras (Chennai) in the south, to New Delhi, Banares (Varanasi), Jaipur, and Amritsar in the north, and villages in Bihar and Rajasthan.

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