Travelogue films showing indigenous life in the interwar period, filmed by the British traveller, linguist, spy and author Reginald Teague Jones OBE, who changed his name to Sinclair after his alleged involvement in the massacre of Bolshevik commissars from Baku in the Caucasus in September 1918.

Khyber Pass: various shots of Khyber Pass area, including Jamrud Fort. Tribal grave markers on hillside. View across pass from high ground; Afridi rifleman is escort to travellers. Lala Beg valley; Shpola Stupa. Regimental badges in hillside. Landi Kotal. Scenes within caravanserai; Afridi tribesmen. Sharply winding, precarious looking roadway. View up the pass into Afghanistan. The Afghan frontier; relaxed Afridi guardsmen on Indian side, marching Afghan guardsmen on Afghan side, dressed in ‘German Steel helmets and full equipment’ (written commentary). Lala Beg. Fortified Afridi villages. Children running toward camera. Further fortified villages and residences. Long sequence of camel caravan, heading toward Peshawar. Shot of train crossing bridge; following sequences are taken from on board a train. Views down over Peshawar valley from train; crossing the Indus by train (Attock bridge). [blank area: the two reels given in the shot list, showing Khyber Pass and Kashmir, are connected]. Views of the Himalaya, and forested mountain roads. Men digging – one man holds a spade, the second holds a rope attached to the spade’s shaft. Rope bridge over rushing torrent (Jhelum river). Tunnel which leads into Kashmir. Shots of Kashmir valley. Srinagar, Main street; shikaras (Kashmiri canoes), waterside buildings. Women working a large pestle (commentary: ‘pounding rice’). Children washing in water. Dal Lake. Ducks, floating cultivated gardens. Fisherman spearing fish from shikara. Mar Canal; Mughal Bridge. Dal Lake; families on board shikaras. Views of mountains. Avenue of poplar trees. Shikaras, and some heavy timber craft. Man working a basic ‘nodding donkey’-style irrigation contraption. Mar canal; various river scenes. View of the Shalimar Bagh. Further views of surrounding countryside; Jhelum river.

Notes

Catalogue entry by Dr Francis Gooding, AHRC Colonial Film Database 2010.