Pictures give rare glimpse into life under the British Raj

Riverside scene with bathers, looking north from Chatulal's Ghat towards Ram Chandra Goenka's Zenana (ladies) ghat, Kolkata Credit: RCAHMS/PA Wire

A host of stunning pictures documenting life in India over one hundred years ago has been found in a shoebox.

A total of 178 plate-glass negatives were found inside a size-nine Peter Lord shoe box by the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS) in Edinburgh.

They are said to have been taken at the time of the British Raj and it is thought the negatives had lain untouched for almost 100 years.

Street hairdresser giving a 'Hindustani haircut' (pudding bowl), Strand Road South, Kolkata Credit: RCAHMS/PA Wire

Archivists at RCAHMS have already confirmed that some of the images were definitely taken in 1912. King George V and Queen Mary visited Calcutta - the only Monarch to visit the subcontinent as Emperor.

Little known about the images or the photographer, prompting a search for clues as to his or her identity.

Waterside with group of washermen at a dhobi ghat Credit: RCAHMS/PA Wire

One theory is that the photographer was a British civil servant in Calcutta, or was connected to the jute trade, as many Scots were said to be at the time.

RCAHMS hopes that members of the public and photography enthusiasts might be able to help trace whoever took the beautiful images.

Riverside scene with bathers, looking north from Chatulal's Ghat towards Ram Chandra Goenka's Zenana (ladies) ghat, Kolkata Credit: RCAHMS/PA Wire

Claire Sorensen, RCAHMS architectural historian, said:

Ships arriving at the Chandpal Ghat Credit: RCAHMS/PA Wire