European Lady On A Wolseley Car In Chandannagar, 2 Photos 1913
Two 1913 photos show a European lady in a Wolseley Car in Chandannagar, formerly Chandernagore. Chandannagar was one of the five settlements of the French in India. Shown in the picture is a British lady who presumably had travelled to Chandannagore from Calcutta (Kolkata) in 1913, a distance of around 47 km.
The car seems to be the British-made Wolseley, which was a solidly built iron horse of a vehicle. It was much preferred across the rugged roads in India during the colonial era. Motorcars made their presence in India sometime in the late 1890s. A Calcutta resident was believed to have brought the first car into India. Although this was hotly disputed because there are stories of cars brought into India for the first time by several others.
Since one passionate group on cars claims that the Maharaja of Patiala was the first to import a car into India. Still other groups vouch that a rich Parsi from Bombay was the first to own one. We may not know exactly which group may have been right. Nevertheless, during the colonial era, imported cars flooded the market in India. Some were the Mercedes-Benzes, Rolls-Royces, Chryslers, Standards, Buicks, and so on. Although the imports ceased after India became independent. Cars were made available to the Indian market only after it was made in India in collaboration with foreign companies. Click on the image for better view.
Did you know – the Ambassador, Fiat Padmini, Standard, etc, were some of the early cars in India after 1947. By the 1980s, the 90s, and 2000, many foreign cars were granted licenses to be made in the country.
From the collection –1964 M. Suriyamoorthy Charcoal Art Abstract (#10)., First White Man To Climb The Taj Mahal, 1927 Photo ., Cantonment Market In Bangalore – Old Postcard 1914.
