British Raj Movies

Technicolor scenes from an Indian Durbar, held for the Maharaja of Alwar in Rajasthan.

An elephantine spectacle, likely part of the celebrations for the visit of the Prince and Princess of Wales to India.

Aristocracy, army, elephants and more mark the start of the 1903 Durbar.

Lady Pamela Lytton, wife of the Governor of Bengal, visits the grand marble Victoria Memorial in Calcutta.

An intimate insight into the servant culture and lifestyle of the Viceroy of India and family, as they visit Simla (Shimla) and Lahore.

The inauguration of a unit of the Indian Defence Force in Calcutta.

Happy farmers, a wedding and some giant cauliflowers...

Indian high society enjoy themselves at a Calcutta garden party held to welcome the new Viceroy, Lord Irwin.

Scenes at a garden party given by Earl Lytton, Governor of Bengal, at Government House, Calcutta.

Tigers in the Himalayan foothills, filmed by famous hunter and conservationist Jim Corbett.

Gorgeously dreamlike colour images of (then) French India – present-day Puducherry.

Made by an English family living in north India during the heyday of the Raj, this amateur film reveals the grandeur in which middle-class English...

Romantic, atmospheric travelogue capturing some of northern India’s most iconic places – not least the Taj Mahal.

Actuality film showing a busy Salvation Army parade in a rural village under the British Raj.

Jaw-dropping acrobatics for royal visitors.

The timber trade calls on animal help.

Film showing the Viceregal party entering Delhi on lavishly decorated elephants, as part of the Coronation durbar of 1903.

A doctor and party visit the villages of eastern Manipur in India's far north east.

Rare stencil-coloured images of early 20th century Delhi during a Muslim festival.

Boats and steamers on the mud flats and lakes of the Assam district, India.