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Kashmiri gate, Delhi

Photograph
mid 19th century (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Photographs of Kashmiri gate, which originally had a double gateway, built in 1835 by the military engineer Robert Smith as part of the reinforced city wall. Consequently the storming of Kashmiri gate played a crucial part during the Indian Mutiny of 1857 in favour of the British forces. Until the 1960s, vehicles going north through the city of Delhi used to literally pass through Kashmiri gate, but later a wider road to the east developed, making the gate an island, surrounded by heavy traffic.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleKashmiri gate, Delhi (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Albumen photographic print
Brief description
Photograph by Felice Beato of Kashmiri Gate, after the Indian Mutiny, Delhi, India, about1858
Physical description
Photographs of Kashmiri gate, which originally had a double gateway, built in 1835 by the military engineer Robert Smith as part of the reinforced city wall. Consequently the storming of Kashmiri gate played a crucial part during the Indian Mutiny of 1857 in favour of the British forces. Until the 1960s, vehicles going north through the city of Delhi used to literally pass through Kashmiri gate, but later a wider road to the east developed, making the gate an island, surrounded by heavy traffic.
Dimensions
  • Height: 27.8cm
  • Width: 23.3cm
Style
Object history
Beato had a particular interest in photographing military campaigns. The rich diversity of his work in India developed after his arrival in February 1858, where he photographed the aftermath of the Indian Mutiny of 1857 and devastation in Delhi, Cawnpore and Lucknow, famous for its massacre of Europeans by the Indian army. Beato's war photographs of India range from portraits of commanding officers to vast Indian landscapes and derelict forts and palaces.
Historical context
There is little conclusive evidence about the life of the 19th century photographer Felice A. Beato, who was born in Venice between 1825 and 1830, but became a naturalised British subject. Beato is most recognised as a war photographer where his travel from Europe provided the opportunity to record military war in India after the Mutiny of 1857, the opium wars in China in 1860 and Japan in 1862. Beato later died in Burma, ca 1908-1909.
Subjects depicted
Place depicted
Bibliographic reference
Masselos, Jim and Gupta, Narayani (2000) " Beato's Delhi 1857, 1997", Ravi Dayal, Delhi.
Collection
Accession number
PH.2061-1905

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Record createdMay 19, 2003
Record URL
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