This map shows the plan of operations to carry out the Siege of Lucknow in 1857. During the Uprising, Lucknow held out for much longer than the rest of the strongholds of northern India, and an operation had to be devised by the British troupes to evacuate trapped and imprisoned Europeans from the Residency building.… Read more »
This is a military map showing the various positions of the British Army, and the plan of their attack on the walled city of Shahjahanabad. Created during the Uprising of 1857, the map points out various important landmarks such as the Chandni Chowk and the Subzee Mandi as also the gates around the fort such… Read more »
This is an artist’s imagination of the danger faced by British families in India during the 1857 Uprising. In the engraving, a mother can be seen nursing a baby while a toddler sits close by. Two revolutionaries enter the room, one holding a sword dripping with what looks like blood and the other wielding a… Read more »
During the Uprising of 1857, events in the city of Lucknow took a rather violent turn. As the news of the Uprising broke, the British officials and their families took shelter in the Residency, while the rebelling soldiers blocked every means of outside contact for them and continued their attacks for over 90 days. A… Read more »
Kanpur was the scene of a massacre after the city’s besieged occupants, including women and children, surrendered to the revlting natives on 27 June 1857. The recapture of the city then and the avenging of the massacre became a primary objective of the British officials. The city was retaken from the natives on 16 July… Read more »
This is an engraving depicting the shooting of Dr.Graham, an English medical officer who was shot while travelling in his horse-carriage and succumbed to his wounds. This print was inspired from the original illustration by Charles Ball, in his book “The History of Indian Mutiny”. The image depicts a horse-drawn carriage speeding through the landscape… Read more »
This engraving is titled “Koor Singh, the rebel of ‘Arrah’ and his attendants – from a photograph”. It was first published in the Illustrated London, right after the Uprising of 1857. Kuwar (Koor) Singh was a local zamindar who led the revolt against the soldiers of the Bengal Military Battalion in a small outpost of… Read more »
This is a hand-coloured engraving, detailing out one of the activities post the suppression of the Uprising of 1857. The print originally belonged to a larger 1857-Uprising related publications by the London Printing and Publishing Company. In this particular image, British officers are shown blowing the captured sepoys off canons. Two sepoys are tied to… Read more »
This engraving from the Illustrated London News is a detailed depiction of the walled-city of Delhi before the Uprising of 1857. Bounded by the fort-walls on all sides, the walled city with its landmarks, palaces, havelis and bustling streets is executed in detail and almost every important section is named and numbered for identification. The… Read more »
When we launched our Art of Travel series in February 2018, we just knew we had to begin with Lucknow. For all the obvious reasons, of course. It’s a city soaked in art and history, and lends itself so beautifully to all manner of poetic interpretation. Plus, the kebabs are heavenly. But there was… Read more »
Just like us, people in the 1800s too wanted to look their best in pictures. They put on their finest clothes, made sure all their nicest possessions were all in the frame and angled the lens so it would tell their side of the story. Through a sampling of the works in Sarmaya’s first ever… Read more »