South Asia Photography Collection

Scope and Contents

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.

Arrangement

Eight large file folders arranged in one box.

Biographical / Historical

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.