India - The Land of Sunshine

A striking and rare original travel poster promoting tourism to India under British rule. The bold design features a tiger standing proudly on a rocky outcrop, surveying the landscape at sunrise, while a G.I.P. railway train winds its way below through the Indian plains. The text emphasizes India as “The Land of Sunshine, Sport and Travel,” while proudly noting that the country is “Spanned by the G.I.P. India’s Imperial Mail Route.”

The Great Indian Peninsula Railway was one of the largest and most important railway companies of colonial India, operating key routes that linked Bombay (Mumbai) to the wider subcontinent. Its “Imperial Indian Mail” service corresponded with P&O steamships and carried passengers and mail from Ballard Pier Mole railway station in Bombay, serving as a crucial link between Britain and India.

This poster exemplifies the exoticized imagery of colonial-era travel advertising: combining wildlife, grandeur, and modern transport to attract both tourists and travelers. Its rarity, dramatic composition, and historical significance make it a sought-after piece of early Indian railway ephemera.

Surviving Indian railway posters from this period are exceptionally scarce.

Condition: Exellent good. Bright colors preserved, minor age-related wear and small edge imperfections. Small professionally restored tears and tiny losses at the edges.