Photograph of Dankar Fort, with the Manirang Pass in the distance, Spiti, India by Samuel Bourne, 1866.

Perched on a mountain top, the fort at Dankar is just about distinguishable from the rocky formations that surround it. There is a range of mountains in the distance and a river in the bottom right hand corner.

The photograph was initially part of the photographic collection held in the National Art Library. The markings on the mount are an indication of the history of the object, its movement through the museum and the way in which it is categorised.
The mount is white with evidence of handwritten text on top.
Right hand side: A.in Dankar
Bottom left: Label from Bourne cataolgue with 'Dankar fort' handwritten below it.

Samuel Bourne wrote and published an account of his journey in which he mentions the places that he photographed. Below is the relevant section for this photograph:

'At length we arrived at a curious and picturesque village called Dunkar, the outpost of the British territory in this direction…..The houses were built into the sides of the hill, which have been scooped out by nature into holes and caravans; and the way these had been taken advantage of and built into, until the hand of man and the hand of nature seemed to unite, was ingenious and picturesque. I had taken two views of the village from opposite sites and one or two looking up at it from the Spiti valley, and proceeded to take a closer view of one particular part of the village more picturesque than the rest'.

Bourne, S, A Photographic journey through the Higher Himalayas, The British Journal of Photography, January 14 1870, pg, 16.

The negative was made in 1866. This print would have been made before March 1867.

This is one of many images of India captured by the English photographer Samuel Bourne. From July to December 1866, he toured part of the Himalayan region. He wrote about his journey in The British Journal of Photography, outlining his route and in some cases describing the scenes he photographed.

This photograph shows Dunkar Fort and Bourne gives a description of the village of Dunkar. 'At length we arrived at a curious and picturesque village called Dunkar, the outpost of the British territory in this direction…. The houses were built into the sides of the hill, which have been scooped out by nature into holes and caverns; and the way these had been taken advantage of and built into, until the hand of man and the hand of nature seemed to unite, was ingenious and picturesque.'

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