Life in the bustling Punjabi city of Rawalpindi before partition.

Shot in and around the Punjabi city of Rawalpindi, then in northern India, this amateur film opens with a New Year's Day parade and moves onto Olympic sports at West Ridge. Housing at West Ridge dates back to the earliest army cantonments established by the British in the area in 1880. The sports day features cycling, racing, wrestling, vaulting and hurdles. Some women are taking part and are seen hurdling. The film also takes in two Christian weddings with mostly Caucasian guests. A group of Sikhs are glimpsed; and Sir Henry Duffield Craik, then Governor of pre-partition Punjab, is seen touring a refinery at Morgah on the outskirts of Pindi.



Dr. Amina Yaqin (SOAS University of London)

[From notes supplied by archive donor:]

In Rawalpindi Cantonment and the Bazaar. New Year's Day parade 1940,
sports meeting, point to point horse fair, horse show, Tommy Walker's
wedding (in Murree), Governor of the Punjab visits Attock Oil Refinery at
Morgah, Brown's wedding (Murree). Departure of American Engineer, Rawalpindi
Society Geological excursion.