three Paharia women in the modern-day state of Jammu and Kashmir, 1890s

Full-length portrait of three Paharia women in the modern-day state of Jammu and Kashmir, taken by an unknown photographer in the 1890s. The text accompanying a similar image of Paharis in John Forbes Watson's 'The People of India' (1869) states,"The Paharis of Bhaugulpoor are a race, inhabiting the hilly and jungly country (the name signifies hillman) of that large territory...They are hunters rather than cultivators. They are largely employed as coolies (or luggage bearers) by persons travelling between the hill and plain country."