`The Kuzzelbash of Kabul', 1836, by Godfrey Thomas Vigne FRGS

Watercolour

Murtaza Khan, the head of a family of the Qizilbash tribe, met Vigne near Ghazni and accompanied him to Kabul. His tough, swarthy features make a striking contrast with the pale skin and meek demeanour of his young and beautiful bride. This drawing was done by Vigne during his long journey, between 1832 and 1839, through Turkey and Persia to India, and thence northwards to the Western Himalayas and later Afghanistan. Vigne published an account of his Afghanistan trip in A Personal Narrative of a Visit to Ghuzni, Kabul, and Afghanistan (1840).

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