Portrait of an unnamed man from Daman, Afghanistan
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 an Afghan man from the village of Daman, eastern Afghanistan, here referred to as 'Damaun', shown full length. He is clothed in white, with a pink sash and curled slippers. He carries a powder horn and cartridge case at his waist, with a curved sword through the sash. He is shouldering a jezail musket.
Plate 7 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.
According to the accompanying text ‘the peculiarities common to the tribes of Damaun will be best shewn by comparing them with the other division of the eastern Afghauns.’ He explains that ‘they have less of the look of Indians than others, though their summer dress is nearly the same as that of India.’
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 7 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.
According to the accompanying text ‘the peculiarities common to the tribes of Damaun will be best shewn by comparing them with the other division of the eastern Afghauns.’ He explains that ‘they have less of the look of Indians than others, though their summer dress is nearly the same as that of India.’
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