Inner gateway of the palace of the Naqqar Khana thumbnail 1
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Inner gateway of the palace of the Naqqar Khana

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

Photographs of the inner gateway of the palace of the Naqqar Khana (Drum House), located on the eastern side of the square enclosure. On May 16 1857, European and Indian Christians who had been captured by Indian troops were taken to the Naqqar Khana and killed. Many of the victims were women. It appears that accounts were highly exaggerated, but in September 1857 when British forces captured Delhi, many women and children were slaughtered in retaliation.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleInner gateway of the palace of the Naqqar Khana (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Albumen photographic print
Brief description
Photograph by Felice Beato of palace and tree under which Christians were massacred, after the Indian Mutiny, Delhi, India, about 1858
Physical description
Photographs of the inner gateway of the palace of the Naqqar Khana (Drum House), located on the eastern side of the square enclosure. On May 16 1857, European and Indian Christians who had been captured by Indian troops were taken to the Naqqar Khana and killed. Many of the victims were women. It appears that accounts were highly exaggerated, but in September 1857 when British forces captured Delhi, many women and children were slaughtered in retaliation.
Dimensions
  • Height: 25.4cm
  • Width: 29.6cm
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
Bibliographic reference
Masselos, Jim and Gupta, Narayani (2000) " Beato's Delhi 1857, 1997", Ravi Dayal, Delhi.
Collection
Accession number
PH.2065-1905

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Record createdMay 19, 2003
Record URL
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