Students of Ladakh might be interested to browse through the British Library
online gallery.
This contains a selection of the library’s collection of photographs and drawings, including a number of images of Ladakh. Among my own favourites is a
photograph of Leh bazaar taken in 1873 by Francis Edward Chapman who was a member of the Forsyth exhibition to Yarkand. Chapman’s photographs are included in Sir Douglas Forsyth’s published account, Report of a Missionto Yarkund in 1873 (Calcutta, 1875). However, the web version is clearer than the originals and, if you click on ‘interactive zoomable image’, you can see a magnified version of sections of the photograph, making it possible to look at individual buildings in some detail.
Other notable images on the site include drawings based on sketches by Dr Henry Cayley, who was the first British official posted to Ladakh in the late 1860s. One example is a
drawing of Hemis monastery. The drawings appear to be ‘second hand’ in that they were evidently prepared by Stanley Leighton on the basis of Cayley’s sketches. However, they look as though they are broadly accurate, and record the the architectural details of buildings that have been greatly changed, or no longer survive.
The online gallery presents no more than a small percentage of the British Library’s overall collection of images. The full catalogue specifically of the India Office collection of photographs, prints and drawings within the British Library is available
here. The collection is in principle open to all researchers, but it is necessary to apply for a British Library card and to make an appointment in advance.
John Bray
