The British Council

The Governor of Bengal and family - on and off duty.

This amateur film gives us a fair idea of the opulent life enjoyed by members of the British government in India.

The future Edward VIII visits Malakand, Kapurthala and opens the Royal Military College at Dehra Dun

Grand buildings and missionary work come together in the 1947 Indian tour of construction magnate John W. Laing.

Evocative observational scenes of Simla and Lahore, including the gorgeous Shalimar Gardens and Anarkali Bazar.

A Technicolor film on the principles and practicalities of crop rotation, illustrated with diagrams and models.

Life in the bustling Punjabi city of Rawalpindi before partition.

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 colonials lived.

Amateur film of a road trip through northeastern India, showing traditional dances and a gigantic flower float.

Film of local events in Ajmer province including the fair at Pushkar.

Amateur film featuring government buildings in Delhi, a shooting party in Malakand and winter in Abbottabad.

Scenes from a lavish pageant held during the royal visit to India, celebrating King George V’s coronation.

A film produced to celebrate the coronation of George V as King-Emperor at the Imperial Durbar of 1911.

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

Hear the Lama band, see the sacred dances: welcome to Sikkim, in the shadow of the Himalayas.

An astonishing English tourist’s view of street life in pre-partition Srinagar and Kashmir.

Following the recuperation and treatment of patient Frank Thompson, 'Papworth Village Settlement' is an account of the varied medical and social services available to sufferers of tuberculosis at Papworth.

A stunning display by Nyishi tribesmen from the hills of Arunachal Pradesh, north-eastern India.

Rural life in the mountainous valley near Gilgit - now in the Northern areas of Pakistan.

Whirring, gliding and twisting machinery produces sumptuous Scottish woollen fabrics, captured in Technicolor by legendary cinematographer Jack Cardiff.