8 Prints (albumen, images 24 x 29 cm. or smaller.)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Prints
Albumen prints
Photographs
Place:
Kandy (Sri Lanka)
Khyber Pass (Afghanistan and Pakistan)
Khyber (Pakistan)
Sikandra Rao (India)
Date:
19th century
Scope and Contents:
Taken in the later 19th and early 20th centuries, these photographs portray the people, architecture and landscape of Sri Lanka, India and what is now the Pakistan-Afghanistan border area. The collection consists of 8 photographic prints: 1. Natives of Rajputana, signed "Shepherd & Robertson Photo 1120" in black ink in the lower left corner; 2, Native Soldiers in Armour, unsigned; 3. Kandyan Chiefs and Government Agent, signed "Scowen & Co." in white ink in the lower left corner; 4. Taj Mahal, unsigned; 5. Mausoleum of the Great Akbar at the Secundra, unsigned; 6. Ali Musjid and Surroundings from Rotass, Looking Down on Fort, Showing Ascent with River, signed "Burke 28" in white ink in the lower left corner; 7. A Khyber Village, signed " Burke 32" in black ink and in white ink in the lower left corner; 8. Rifle Practice, signed "Burke 285" in black ink in the lower left corner.
Arrangement:
Eight large file folders arranged in one box.
Biographical / Historical:
John Burke (1843-1900) was an Irishman who came to India as an apothecary with the Royal Engineers. A few years later, he became the assistant of the photographer William Baker. At the start of the Second Anglo-Afghan War, Burke tried to go as an official photographer with the British Army, but his request was refused. He decided to travel with the Army at his own expense, financing his trip by selling photographs depicting the life of British soldiers and native people of India. It was in this context that Burke took some of the earliest photographs of Afghanistan.
Local Numbers:
FSA A1992.07
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Rights:
Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.
London, C. Whiting Beaufort House, Strand, 1868-1875
Scope and Contents:
Photographers represented include J.C.A. Dannenberg, R.H. DeMontmorency, E. Godfrey, W.W. Hooper, H.C. McDonald, J. Mulheran, G. Richter, Shepherd & Robertson (later as Bourne & Shepherd), B. Simpson, B.W. Switzer, H.C.B. Tanner, C.C. Taylor, and J. Waterhouse.
Taken in the 1850s and 1860s, these photographs portray the people of many castes, culture groups, and occupations in India, posed individually and in groups. Indian culture groups portrayed include Bhogta, Bhoti, Chero, Dombo, Gond, Gujarati, Ho, Kachari, Kishangarh, Kota, Lepcha, Mishmi, Munda, Naga, Pahari, Paithan, Rajput, Saora, Singpho, Thakur, Tharu, and Toda. Peoples portrayed are from parts of India and surrounding areas, now in Afghanistan, Burma, Iran and Pakistan, such as Assam, Bareli, Behat, Cachar, Chittagong, Delhi, Hazara, Hisar, Kohat, Lahore, Madras, Munjpur, Mysore, Palamau, Shahabad, Shahjahanpur, Sikkim, and Sind.
Occupations illustrated include barbers, blacksmiths, carpenters, charcoal carriers, farmers, fish vendors, horse dealers, interpreters, landlords, mendicants, merchants, officials, priests, warriors, and water carriers. Activities shown include dancing and knitting. Artifacts and material culture documented include books, buildings, devotional objects, tools, and weapons such as bows, clubs, shields, guns and spears.
Arrangement:
The collection is composed of 8 bound volumes with 470 albumen photoprints mounted alongside text. Photographs are arranged by region, with culture group and region, some also with name and occupation of subjects.
Biographical / Historical:
John Forbes Watson and John William Kaye assembled this ethnologic study collection from photographs made by British photographers in India. The collection documents the caste and culture groups of India for a British India Office multi-volume publication. A graduate of Aberdeen University in England, John Forbes Watson (1827-1892) served as an assistant surgeon in the Bombay Medical Services from 1850 to 1853. While in India, Watson began to research Indian agricultural resources. In 1858, he became reporter on the products of India for the India Office in England. A year later, he became director of the India Office's India Museum, devoted to promoting trade in the British Empire. While there, he published several monographs on Indian plants and textiles. In 1867, he was appointed keeper of the museum, and served in that capacity until he retired in 1879.
John William Kaye (1814-1876) was secretary of the India Office's Political and Secret Department.
Local Numbers:
FSA A1990.03
Provenance:
Purchase 1990 A1990.3
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Genre/Form:
Photographs
Citation:
The People of India. FSA.A1990.03. National Museum of Asian Art Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., Purchase.
