History - Old Indian Photos

Photograph of the Hawa Mahal or Palace of the Winds at Jaipur in Rajasthan taken by Gobindram and Oodeyram in the 1900s. The photograph is from an album containing views of various locations in India, formerly in the collection of Horatio Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener of Khartoum and Broome, (1850-1916), who was Commander in Chief of India between 1902 and 1909.

This is a view of the east façade of the Hawa Mahal from an intersection of the Sireh Deori Bazaar. The palace is one of the most famous buildings in Jaipur, and was designed by Lalchand Usta and built by Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh in 1799 as an addition to the existing City Palace. Like all the buildings in the old walled quarter of the city it was painted a rusty pink. It consists of two courtyards with residential ranges, fronted by a five-storey, curved façade composed of a multitude of window bays each topped with an arch or dome. The lattice work designs of the windows together create a purdah screen behind which ladies of the court in the zenana could observe the outside world and enjoy a flow of cool air. Jaipur was founded in 1727 as an entirely new and prestigious state capital by Maharaja Jai Singh (ruled 1699-1743) of the Kachwaha Rajputs.