Original Photographs
Photographic views of Lucknow taken after the Indian Mutiny
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The 26 albumen silver prints are mounted in an album. They were taken by Felice Beato, an Italian by birth, who visited India during the period of the Indian Mutiny or First War of Indian Independence; he may have been and was commissioned by the War Office in London to make documentary photographs showing the damage to the buildings in Lucknow following the two sieges. It is known that he was in Lucknow in March and April of 1858 within a few weeks of the capture of that city by British forces under Sir Colin Campbell. His equipment was a large box camera using 10″ x 12″ plates which needed a long exposure, and he made over 60 photographs of places in the city connected with the military events. Beato also visited Delhi, Cawnpore, and other ‘Mutiny’ sites where he took photographs.
Further Reading:
Chappell, Walter, ‘Robertson, Beato & Co. Camera vision at Lucknow’, Image 7 (Feb. 1958), 36-40.
Fraser, John, ‘Beato’s photograph of the interior of the Sikansar-Bagh at Lucknow’ Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research, Vol. 59 (1981), 51-55.
Harris, John, ‘Topography and Memory: Felice Beato’s Photographs of India, 1858-1859’, in Vidya Dehejia (ed.) India through the lens: photography 1840-1911. Washington, D.C., Smithsonian Institution, 2000, pp. 118-147.
Masselos, Jim, and Narayani Gupta. Beato’s Delhi, 1858, 1997. Delhi, 1997.
Worswick, Clark, and Ainslie Embree. The Last Empire. Photography in British India 1855-1911. London, 1976.
Interior of the Secundra Bagh after the Slaughter of 2,000 Rebels by the 93rd Highlanders and 4th Punjab Regiment. First Attack of Sir Colin Campbell in November 1857, Lucknow.
Albumen silver print
26.2 x 29.8 cm.
Located on the outskirts of Lucknow, it was the scene of intense fighting in November 1857. Following the action, the British dead were buried in a deep trench, but the Indian corpses were left to rot. Later, the city had to be evacuated and was not recaptured until March 1858, and it was shortly afterwards that Beato probably took this photograph. As one contemporary commentator described it: “A few of their [rebel] bones and skulls are to be seen in front of the picture, but when I saw them every one was being regularly buried, so I presume the dogs dug them up.” A British officer, Sir George Campbell, noted in his memoirs Beato’s presence in Lucknow and stated that he probably had the bones uncovered to be photographed. However, William Howard Russell of The Times recorded seeing many skeletons still lying around in April 1858.
The 32nd Mess House. First attack of Sir Colin Campbell in November 1857. Lucknow.
Albumen silver print 20.4 x 29.5 cm.
According to Francis Cornwallis Maude, a British officer who observed the attack on the Mess House, Campbell “treated this building to a bombardment of 10 hours after it had been abandoned by its defenders.” The white marks in the photograph are the repairs later made by the rebels. The rows of embrasures in the garden wall were also added by the rebels prior to the final capture of the city in March 1858.
The Secundra Bagh, Showing the Breach and Gateway. First Attack of Sir Colin Campbell in November, 1857. Lucknow
Albumen silver print 23.4 x 29.4 cm.
This view shows the formal exterior wall of the Secundra Bagh, a small, walled garden on the outskirts of the city. The figure standing in profile on the right of the building marks the position of the breach that was opened on November 16, 1857, allowing the British to gain access to the garden.
The Muchee Bawn or the Old Citadel of Lucknow, which was abandoned by Sir Henry Lawrence and partly blown up when he took his position in the Residency, Lucknow.
Albumen silver print 24 x 29 cm.
Shortly after the place was evacuated, there was a tremendous explosion which blew open all the doors of the Residency. Thick smoke billowed out from the building, revealing a heap of ruins.
The Road by which General Henry Havelock entered the Residency, Lucknow.
Albumen silver print 19.4 x 30.8 cm.
Pointing ahead, General Havelock said, “There is this street. We see the worst. We shall be slated, but we can push through and get it over.” It was just over half a mile to the Residency, which was entered on 25 September, 1857.
Bailee Guard Gate, Taken from the Inside, and Showing the Clock Tower, Lucknow.
Albumen silver print 25.8 x 30.3 cm.
The various buildings including the Residency, a church, offices, and private houses were arranged in a compound which was entered through the Bailee Guard Gate with a guard-house. The view was taken from the roof of a building with a distant view of the city.
Gateway leading into the Residency held by Captain Atkinson, 13th Native Infantry, commonly called the Bailee Guard Gate.
Albumen silver print 23 x 29.7 cm.
This is a different view of the same gate pictured in the previous print. The gate was “completely riddled with round shot and musket balls,” as one survivor put it.
Moti Mahal Gateway, 1st Attack of Sir Colin Campbell, Lucknow.
Albumen silver print 25 x 28.8 cm.
The Lal Bagh, the place in which General James Neill was shot through the head and killed in September 1857.
Albumen silver print 21.2 x 28.8 cm.
The Residency, Taken in Front, and Showing the Room in Which Sir Henry Lawrence was Killed, Lucknow.
Albumen silver print 23.6 x 28.7 cm.
Formerly occupied by Sir Henry Lawrence, Chief Commissioner of Oudh, at the outbreak of the mutiny, the Residency became the last defended place for the British. The building was crammed with soldiers and civilians. “There is not one hole or corner where one can enjoy an instant’s privacy,” wrote one lady in her journal. The posed figure on the far right stands in front of the room where Lawrence was killed.
Lucknow: The small Emambara Magazine.
Albumen silver print 24 x 29.6 cm.
Other photographs in the album depict:
- The Great Gateway of the Kaiserbagh, Lucknow
- The Shah Nyjuff (or Najaf)
- The Chattur Munzil Palace, with the King’s Boat in the Shape of a Fish
- The Martiniere Palace
- The Stone Bridge with the new fortifications
- The Iron Bridge
- The Hosainabad Emambara and tomb of Mahomed Ali Khan
- Mosque inside Asophoo Dawlah’s Emambara – Now Used as a Hospital
- The King’s Palace in Kaiserbagh
- Exterior of Asophoo Dawlah’s Emambara or Tomb
- General Wheeler’s Entrenchment at Cawnpore
- The Rounee Dunvaya or Gateway of Constantinople
- The Dilkoosha Palace
- The Bailee Guard