Photos of a "Pathan woman", circa 1919

 

The above photo, captioned as "Pathan woman" was taken by Randolph Bezzant Holmes in 1919 (c). 

This photo was taken in a studio and features a model. It is very doubtful if the woman in the photo is an actual Pashtun. She rather appears to be either an Indian or a Hindkai of Peshawar. The photographer had studio in Peshawar city.

Here is another photo of the so called Pathan woman with caption "Pathan woman spinning", taken by the same photographer in his studio.

Original caption: 'The burqa of the Pathan Frontier'.

Handcoloured photo by R.B.Holmes.

Source

Randolph Bezzant Holmes, the British photographer of the above photos, was born in Peshawar on January 14, 1888. His father, William Dacia Holmes, was also a photographer who established himself in Peshawar, residing in the British cantonment there. You can read a biography of R.B. Holmes by Farrukh Husain here.

Source