Amazing collection of photographs depicting life in India a century ago are found in an old shoebox. A tennis party pose among tea trolleys: full-length dresses and sun hats for the ladies; shirt-sleeve order, neat moustaches and optional pipe for the men are some of the photographs among them.

One image shows buildings in the city of Calcutta lit up over the Lal Dighi body of water, commemorating a British royal visit, while another depicts ships arriving at the Chandpal Ghat, the main landing site for visitors to the city along the Hooghly River.

All 178 of the plate-glass negatives were found inside a size-nine Peter Lord shoebox by the Royal Commission for the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS) in Edinburgh. All 178 images are about 100 years old.


A Tennis party poses (one, far right, with a pipe) among tea trolleys in this photo taken in India around a century ago.


Two men stick dance in front of a crowd in Maidan, Calcutta. The dance represents a mock fight between legendary warrior Durga and the mighty demon king Mahishasura.


Buildings on the south-east side of Lal Dighi, Calcutta, lit at night for the 1912 British royal visit by King George V and Queen Mary.


Archivists have confirmed that some of the images were definitely taken in 1912, when the royals visited. It was the only trip by a British monarch to India as Emperor of the subcontinent.


King George V and the Queen arrive in Delhi in 1911.


A crowded riverside with bathers at Chandpal Ghat in Calcutta, the main landing site for visitors to the city along the Hooghly River.


A street scene in an unknown location, capturing life in India at least a century ago.


Ships arriving at Chandpal Ghat, while crowds gather by the docks.


A Jain temple complex in Calcutta. RCAHMS hopes that members of the public and photography enthusiasts might be able to shed more light on the photographic discovery.


A street hairdresser giving a ‘Hindustani haircut’ (pudding bowl) in Strand Road South, Calcutta.


Celebrations for the visit of King George V and Queen Mary to Calcutta in 1912.


A Muhurram (sacred month) procession through a crowded Calcutta street with tazieh theatre performance in the background. Tazieh drama re-enacts heroic tales of love and sacrifice.


Calcutta is lit up for the royal visit; right, a group seated in two ferry canoes moored in a stream at an unknown location.


Waterside with a group of washermen at a dhobi ghat (open-air laundry zone.