Portrait of an unnamed man
Date
1815
Creator
Unknown, Engraver
After
Robert Melville Grindlay (1786, British) , 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 a man of eastern Afghanistan, referred to here as of the 'Hindkee', Hindki, people: people or communities of Indian origin living in Afghanistan. Shown full length in winter costume, wearing a brown tunic tied at the waist with a blue sash in which is held a short sword. His brown animal skin overcoat is worn with the fur turned inward and with visible fur trimming. He wears brown boots and a white turban.
Plate 5 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. V. A Hindkee in the winter dress of Peshawer. Published by Messrs. Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, & Brown, Paternoster Row, 1815.’
According to the accompanying text the Hindkees were ‘all of Indian descent …[and] retain the well known appearance and manners of their original country; together with a mixture of those which have been attributed to the Eastern Afghauns.’ However, this plate shows the winter dress that ‘happens to approach more nearly to that of the west.’
The author comments that the original artwork for this print was produced by Lieutenant R.M. Grindlay of the Bombay (Mumbai) Establishment’ and that the artist ‘drew them from Afghauns just arrived from their own country.’ These originals, now in the British Library, were made by Grindlay in Poona (Pune), in 1813.
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.
Plate 5 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. V. A Hindkee in the winter dress of Peshawer. Published by Messrs. Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, & Brown, Paternoster Row, 1815.’
According to the accompanying text the Hindkees were ‘all of Indian descent …[and] retain the well known appearance and manners of their original country; together with a mixture of those which have been attributed to the Eastern Afghauns.’ However, this plate shows the winter dress that ‘happens to approach more nearly to that of the west.’
The author comments that the original artwork for this print was produced by Lieutenant R.M. Grindlay of the Bombay (Mumbai) Establishment’ and that the artist ‘drew them from Afghauns just arrived from their own country.’ These originals, now in the British Library, were made by Grindlay in Poona (Pune), in 1813.
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.
Associated place