Photo 355/9(28)

Genre: Ethnographical Photography

Large group of 14 Bhils of the Vindhya Hills, armed with muskets and bows and arranged in two rows. This portrait is reproduced as plate 377, vol VII of J. Forbes Watson, 'The People of India' (8 vols, London, 1868-75), which states that the photograph was taken in the Malwa Agency, Madhya Pradesh.

For notes on the dress and physical characteristics of the sitters, see the table in Government of India Foreign Consultations (General), July 1863 (IOR P/205/14), p. 54. Waterhouse also notes: 'This photograph was taken at Sirdarpoor [Sardarpur] in June 1862; it was a very good plate, but the film broke while printing it in the rains. I tried to copy it, but failed to get a good copy; I have, therefore, printed some copies from the spoiled negative, and send them in along with a few prints taken before the film broke. If considered worth it, the best print might easily be copied by a professional. The subjects are all Sepoys in the Malwa Bheel Corps, and therefore look more civilized than they do in wild state.'

[Albumen print, 199x151mm].

Subjects = arms and armour; Bhils (ethnic group); bows and arrows; Dunlop Smith Collection; ethnic groups; muskets