Residential Section of the Old City of Kabul.

October 1915
Residents felt little concern for the environment outside their homes, but interiors were kept scrupulously clean and tidy. On entering one first entered a courtyard where there was often a well or a tree. Off this, staircases led to interior courtyards that functioned as secluded places for the women of the household. In olden days the Façade of the courtyards were often elegantly decorated with carved Kashmiri-style woodwork around doors and windows. Classical unglazed windows were closed with three vertical sliding shutters held in an arch. The highly decorative shutters could be removed one by one according to the amount of light or air that was desired. When all three panels were removed, one sat comfortably on carpets on the floor with one elbow on the window sill, watching activities place below. Photo: Afghanistan (sic), by Oskar von Niedermayer and Ernest Diez, K. W. Hiersemann, Leipzing, 1924. Niedermayer was a leading member of the Turco-German mission that visited Amir Habibullah in Kabul from September 1915 to May 1916.

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Filename: XIX-8.jpg
Copyright: acku Afghanistan
Image Size: 3926x5570 / 5.1MB; 1915 Afghanistan Kabul Old City Courtyards Kashmiri-Style Woodwork Doors Windows Arches Shutters Oskar von Niedermayer Ernest Diez Horses Old Houses Slide LD 1915 01268
Contained in galleries: KABUL I: BEGINNINGS

October 1915<br />
Residents felt little concern for the environment outside their homes, but interiors were kept scrupulously clean and tidy. On entering one first entered a courtyard where there was often a well or a tree. Off this, staircases led to interior courtyards that functioned as secluded places for the women of the household. In olden days the Façade of the courtyards were often elegantly decorated with carved Kashmiri-style woodwork around doors and windows. Classical unglazed windows were closed with three vertical sliding shutters held in an arch. The highly decorative shutters could be removed one by one according to the amount of light or air that was desired. When all three panels were removed, one sat comfortably on carpets on the floor with one elbow on the window sill, watching activities place below. Photo: Afghanistan (sic), by Oskar von Niedermayer and Ernest Diez, K. W. Hiersemann, Leipzing, 1924. Niedermayer was a leading member of the Turco-German mission that visited Amir Habibullah in Kabul from September 1915 to May 1916.