Views of Benares from the River Side Presented by the Maharaja of Benares

A rare and beautiful little album with 20 silver gelatin print photographs of the various ghats of Benares by Babu Jageshwar Prasad, the Maharaja's royal photographer.

These tiny albums were given away as a gift to visiting dignitaries by the Maharaja of Benares. [This album is inscribed in ink by the recipient "Captain E J S Bonnet / OC British Military Hospital / and Docke 1/C Cantonment / Hospital / BENARAS / UP / 1926.1927 1928"]. Though this album seems to be from circa 1900s.

This album, bound in black leather with gilt title on cover measures 14.2 x 12.7 cm. It has 20 silver gelatin photographs pasted within printed red rules on thick cyan blue sheets back to back. Each photograph measures 7.4 x 9.5 cm and has its caption typed below. The sheets have cloth hinges.

The photographs were originally taken in the 1870s and used to produce large gift albums. The photographer's name is not mentioned in this album but he was Babu Jageshwar Prasad, the Maharaja's royal photographer. This is a miniature version of the album with a reduced number of photographs. The album is finely bound, with no wear.
4.8 x 5.7 x 0.5 in (12.4 x 14.5 x 1.5 cm)

The 20 photographs are titled:

With ink inscription below the photograph stating 'The Maharaja of Benaras'
Fort Ramnagar
Assisangam Ghat
Bhadaini Water Works
Batsraj Ghat
Shivala Ghat
Kedar Ghat
Amrit Rao Chutter Ghat
Dhunroo Panth Ghat
Ranamahal Ghat
Munshi Ghat
Ahilya Bai's Ghat
Dasaswamedh Ghat
Observatory of Manmandir
Lalita Ghat
Burning Ghat
Manikarnika Ghat
Ghosla Ghat
Minaret, Panchganga Ghat
Sumer Mandir Ramnagar

NON-EXPORTABLE