Audio / Video

Purna Swaraj Resolution 1929-30

A tour of the Indian city of Jaipur in the 1930's.

Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's Tryst with Destiny speech at the midnight of August 14, 1947 to India's Constituent Assembly (precursor to Parliament).

Click here for the full text.

This film is part of 'Before Midnight' - a touring programme of 27 films shot in India prior to Independence. Shot by the legendary Jack Cardiff, this is one of a number of short films that he made in India in the late 1930s. This film presents the city of Delhi - and the period - as rarely seen before.

Greatest Headlines of the century - India gains independence - August 15th 1947

This is one of the earliest films to be shot in India\; it was filmed in 1899 in the holy city of Varanasi from the perspective of a boat travelling along Ganges River. This film is included on the BFI DVD of Jean Renoir's 'The River'.

A silent black &amp\; white film sequence of the Taj Mahal, taken by Theodore Richard, an educator and religious administrator who filmed his travels around the world in 1924-25. The film clip is from the Human Studies Film Archives, Smithsonian Institution collection of historical moving images.

A snapshot of life in a village in the Punjab - from the production of mustard oil to the shoeing of a bullock.

A tour of the Indian city of Bombay (now Mumbai) in the 1930's.