The history of Pakistan can be traced back to the ancient Indus Valley civilization. During the 19th century, the territory of present-day Pakistan was a part of British India, and before that, of Mughal India. Mohammad Ali Jinnah founded Pakistan in 1947 under the official name of the “Dominion of Pakistan”. It became the “Islamic Republic of Pakistan” in the year 1956.

H.A. Mirza & Sons in Delhi and Amballa based Moorli Dhur & Sons were among the leading north-west Indian firms in the early 20th century. Many of their images were of Murree, then a small but very popular hill-station among the British near the army city of Rawalpindi. Murree had its own photographers too, among them Baljee, an exquisite photographer and postcard publisher with branches in both Rawalpindi and Murree.

London-based Raphael Tuck & Sons published images from the mid-1800’s until the early 20th century. They were probably the leading international global card publisher, and printed cards for the British royal family. Their specialty was artist and otherwise beautifully color-printed cards using various effects like those of Lahore in this selection.

Some of the finest Pakistan color postcards came from Delhi-based H.A. Mirza & Sons. H.A. Mirza was a photographer who had his images printed by superior German publishers, and they retain their original colors very nicely. His competitor Fred Bremner, based primarily in Quetta and Karachi, seems instead to have favored a vignette black-and-white style from the very early 1900s characteristic of postcards printed in France.