Posted on: 19 January 2012

Distant view of the Jami Masjid from an upstairs balcony of a house, with other houses and crowds of people below - 1852.

This painting by William Carpenter (1818-1899) shows a view of the Jami Masjid in Delhi as seen from the upstairs balcony of a grand house, which overlooks the street leading to the north entrance. Members of the Muslim household are seen taking refreshments on the carved wooden balcony. The Jami Masjid is India's largest mosque and was built between 1644 and 1656 during the reign of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan.

In early 1850 Carpenter set off in the footsteps of his younger brother Percy, also an artist, and landed in Bombay. He spent much of his time painting portraits of local rulers and the surrounding countryside, often sporting Indian dress himself. He travelled widely, from Sri Lanka to Kashmir, and he also spent some time in the Panjab and Afghanistan before moving south to Rajasthan. He appears to have returned to England in 1856. Ten years later he was living in Boston, but he later returned to London, where he died.

Source: V&A, London


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present scenes are real contrast to this past scene as portrayed in this sketch

@ Hidha..they most certainly are,although I did enjoy the fish market..

It would be different considering the British after 1857 demolished all the houses and havelis between jami Masjid and the Red Fort

Many of buildings were indeed razed to ground in their retribution by the Brtish.

ae muhammad ibn qasim de sada tu hai kaha is masjid ko uske maazi me le jaa

The peace and tranquility of those times has since long been replaced by traffic congestion and loud noises. Utter chaos.

Grandiour

Present situation is very much different, in place of the balcony of the house is a building which has a fire station, and across the road is the market which trades in fire works.

Even this Jami Masjid was on the hit list of the British to destroy after they regained Delhi in 1857-58 and imprisoned the Last Mughal Bahadurshah 'Zafar'. Somehow it missed the hammer.

Awesome...It is antique one

dear friends...in this paintings there are no havelis..just modest houses..if you really understand the scale of a haveli ..u will understand what i mean...

its very special to india,,, that around great buildings there are very modest buildings..

it seems the except jami masjid the scene is an imaginery one recreated from memory...it can be a scene for breaking the roza fast..iftekar..may be...

or aab jjane ka bhi mann nahi karta

Anup Dave, I agree with your point some how, in the painting above the house is drawn over the painting of the mosque, See the pillar of balcony, and as for the reference you can match it with the picture here http://www.oldindianphotos.in/2010/06/jama-masjid-delhi-1865.html But it is also the fact that British govt raised the houses to the ground around the mosque after 1857