Portrait of two unnamed shepherds
Date
1815
Creator
Unknown, Engraver
After
Unknown Deli artist (Indian) , Artist
Object type
Library reference
RCN38165
Material
Technique
Dimensions
height (print): 280mm
width (print): 210mm
width (print): 210mm
Subject
Politics & Government
> Political doctrines
> British Empire
Politics & Government
> Political doctrines
> British colonialism
> Political doctrines
> British Empire
Politics & Government
> Political doctrines
> British colonialism
Content object
Description
Portrait of two Durrānī shepherds of Afghanistan, referred to here as 'Dooraunee'. The two men are shown full length, standing side by side. The figure to the left as viewed wears loose striped cotton trousers, a loose white perahan, a black and gold hat and no shoes. The man to the right as viewed holds a wooden staff and wears loose black trousers, a white perahan with a cloak, black and gold hat and brown boots.
Plate 2 from Mountstuart Elphinstone's An account of the Kingdom of Caubul and its dependencies in Persia, Tartary, and India… (London, 1815), an account of his embassy to the ruler of Afghanistan, Shuja Shah Durrani Khan (1785-1842) in 1808.
Inscribed “PL. II. Dooraunee Shepherds. Published by Messrs. Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, & Brown, Paternoster Row, 1815.’
The accompanying text describes how ‘The dress of the men varies; but, that now used in the West, appears to me to be the original dress of the whole nation. It consists of a pair of loose trowsers of dark coloured cotton; a large shirt like a waggoner’s frock; a low cap…and a pair of half boots…over this for a great part of the year is thrown a large cloak of well-tanned sheep-skin, with the wool inside.’
Mountstuart Elphinstone (1779–1859), East India Company administrator from 1776, known for his periods as Resident at Poona and Governor of Bombay in the 1810s and 1820s, and involvement in the Anglo-Maratha wars.
The Durrānī are one of the largest communities of the Pashtun diaspora. Their traditional homeland is southern Afghanistan, straddling into Toba Achakzai in Balochistan, Pakistan.
Plate 2 from Mountstuart Elphinstone's An account of the Kingdom of Caubul and its dependencies in Persia, Tartary, and India… (London, 1815), an account of his embassy to the ruler of Afghanistan, Shuja Shah Durrani Khan (1785-1842) in 1808.
Inscribed “PL. II. Dooraunee Shepherds. Published by Messrs. Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, & Brown, Paternoster Row, 1815.’
The accompanying text describes how ‘The dress of the men varies; but, that now used in the West, appears to me to be the original dress of the whole nation. It consists of a pair of loose trowsers of dark coloured cotton; a large shirt like a waggoner’s frock; a low cap…and a pair of half boots…over this for a great part of the year is thrown a large cloak of well-tanned sheep-skin, with the wool inside.’
Mountstuart Elphinstone (1779–1859), East India Company administrator from 1776, known for his periods as Resident at Poona and Governor of Bombay in the 1810s and 1820s, and involvement in the Anglo-Maratha wars.
The Durrānī are one of the largest communities of the Pashtun diaspora. Their traditional homeland is southern Afghanistan, straddling into Toba Achakzai in Balochistan, Pakistan.
Associated place