History is fascinating, especially when it is viewed through photographs. It is like a journey back in time. We can only imagine how life must have been in a bygone era but photographs give us some perspective. They reveal stories and unravel mysteries.

Here is a compilation of 50 rare and unseen photographs from India’s past that will take you back in time:

1. The Bachchan family in the 70s.

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2. The Little Master when he was really little and his childhood teammate, Vinod Kambli.

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3. MS Dhoni in his younger days.

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4. Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a kid and as an NCC cadet.

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5. A rare photoshoot of Madhubala by LIFE magazine.

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6. Phoolan Devi clicked as the bandit queen.

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7. Dr Rajendra Prasad in an open baggi greeting the crowd.

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8. Making India proud! Sushmita Sen and Aishwarya Rai crowned Miss Universe & Miss World respectively in 1994.

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9. Anna Hazare serving the nation in his younger days.

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10. The Tata family: Naval, Ratan & Noel Tata together.

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11. Meeting of great minds. Rabindranath Tagore with Albert Einstein.

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12. A poster depicting the judgement of Shaheed Bhagat Singh and his fellow men in the Lahore Conspiracy Case.

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13. A photo of Martyr Chandrashekhar Azad after he was killed.

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14. A rare and funny picture of Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor and Dev Anand.

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15. Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose meeting Adolf Hitler.

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16. Pandit Nehru with Albert Einstein.

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17. The Indian team having a gala time in the dressing room.

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18. A rare photo of Bollywood actors and cricketers playing football. SRK slides in to win the ball from Kapil Dev.

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19. Sir CV Raman demonstrating the “Raman effect” to fellow scholars.

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20. Sikandra Bagh after the slaughter of 2,200 rebels in 1858. Skulls and bones can be seen strewn around.

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21. A rare photo of Randhir Kapoor, Raj Kapoor and Rekha in 1970.

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22. Dr BR Ambedkar pictured with an associate’s family.

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23. Khali before he became ‘The Great Khali’.

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24. Sarla Thakral pictured next to an airplane when she was only 21. She was the first Indian woman pilot.

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25. Subhash Chandra Bose after being arrested.

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26. Indira Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru with Charlie Chaplin at Bürgenstock, Switzerland, in 1953.

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27. The last known photograph of the Mahatma.

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28. And a rare one of his assassin, Nathuram Godse.

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29. Young Vivekananda (4th from left) at the funeral of Ramkrishna Paramhansa.

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30. Jacqueline Kennedy with Pandit Nehru enjoying the acts of a snake charmer.

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31. Indira Gandhi posing with the cricket World Cup in 1983.

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32. Another shot of the young duo, Vinod Kambli and Sachin Tendulkar.

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33. Mumbai when it was ‘Bombay’, circa 1950.

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34. And the Opera House on MG Road, Bangalore, around the same time.

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35. A photograph of a demonstration by Satyagrahis.

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36. Indian rebels hanged during the struggle of 1857 against the British.

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37. Yash Chopra relaxing with his actors, Anil Kapoor and Sridevi, on the set.

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38. Zeenat Aman as the poster girl for Air India.

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39. And Amjad Khan’s character Gabbar on a print ad for Glucose-D.

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40. The then Governor General of India, C. Rajagopalachari, bids goodbye to Lady Mountbatten, 1948

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41. AR Rahman on his road to greatness.

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42. President Pranab Mukherjee smoking a pipe a few decades ago.

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43. The Rolls Royce showroom in Mumbai.

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44. A Student in Madras following a practice of tying the hair to a rope and nail to avoid distraction while studying.

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45. Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose pictured with his family.

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46. The first Indian cricket team, called the ‘Parsi Team’, to tour England in 1886.

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47. Late actress Zohra Sehgal during her younger days.

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48. The beautiful Zeenat Aman after winning the 2nd Runner Up at the Miss India Contest, 1970.

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49. Shahrukh Khan and Gauri as youngsters.

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50. Seeta Devi, an Anglo-Indian silent film actress, clicked in 1925.

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