South Asia Photography Collection

Taken in the later 19th and early 20th centuries, these photographs portray the people, architecture and landscape of Sri Lanka, India and what is now the Pakistan-Afghanistan border area. The collection consists of 8 photographic prints: 1. Natives of Rajputana, signed "Shepherd & Robertson Photo 1120" in black ink in the lower left corner; 2, Native Soldiers in Armour, unsigned; 3. Kandyan Chiefs and Government Agent, signed "Scowen & Co." in white ink in the lower left corner; 4. Taj Mahal, unsigned; 5. Mausoleum of the Great Akbar at the Secundra, unsigned; 6. Ali Musjid and Surroundings from Rotass, Looking Down on Fort, Showing Ascent with River, signed "Burke 28" in white ink in the lower left corner; 7. A Khyber Village, signed " Burke 32" in black ink and in white ink in the lower left corner; 8. Rifle Practice, signed "Burke 285" in black ink in the lower left corner.

John Burke (1843-1900) was an Irishman who came to India as an apothecary with the Royal Engineers. A few years later, he became the assistant of the photographer William Baker. At the start of the Second Anglo-Afghan War, Burke tried to go as an official photographer with the British Army, but his request was refused. He decided to travel with the Army at his own expense, financing his trip by selling photographs depicting the life of British soldiers and native people of India. It was in this context that Burke took some of the earliest photographs of Afghanistan.

FSA A1992.07

Burke, John, d. 1900

Scowen & Co.

Shepherd & Robertson

Kandy (Sri Lanka)

Khyber Pass (Afghanistan and Pakistan)

Khyber (Pakistan)

Sikandra Rao (India)

Rajput (Indic people)

Akbar, -- Emperor of Hindustan, -- 1542-1605 -- Tomb.

Soldiers

Forts

Taj Mahal (Agra, India)

Purchased in 1992.

Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Prints

Albumen prints

Photographs

South Asia Photography Collection, FSA.A1992.07. National Museum of Asian Art Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

Eight large file folders arranged in one box.

Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.

Albumen prints

Photographs

Collection is open for research.