The growth of a city like Bombay was largely dependent on the work of laborers who carried bricks and building materials on wicker baskets on construction sites, much like they do today, which must be part of the reason why they were such common
Some of the most interesting postcards are bazaar and storefront scenes, which can be staged or candid, but always seem to contain a wealth of information about life a century or more ago.
The Princely State of Chamba appeared on few postcards during the Raj even though its rulers seemed to have good relationships with a number of Punjab-based photographers, including Fred Bremner and John Burke.
There are not that many postcards showing the charpai [charpoy], a ubiquitous feature of Indian life, defined in Hobson-Jobson (1903, p.
[Original caption] Calcutta Coolies. The Coolies of Calcutta, otherwise porters or carriers, are men of fine physique, and are able to carry exceptionally heavy weights supported on their heads.
A very finely hand-tinted postcard, with the indigo closely fitting the cloth, one arm balancing a basket of fruit on the seller's head, the other reaching out to the viewer with a bright red sample.
A popular Jaipur postcard shows a woman spinning cotton in front of a traditional door.
Among the first postcards printed in India, from a lithograph by The Ravi Varma Press' chief lithographer, Paul Gerhardt.
The word "peon" owes its origin to the Spanish word which means laborer.
Darjeeling owes its name to a blend of the Tibetan words namely "Dorje" (thunderbolt) and "ling" (place), that translates to "The land of the thunderbolt."
[Original caption] Dandy and Bearers, Darjeeling.
