Studio portrait of a Kathiawar Rajput, at Bombay - 1867.
A studio portrait of a Kathiawar Rajput gentleman posed with a hookah, from the Archaeological Survey of India Collections. This was taken by Hurrichund Chintamon and shown in the Paris Exhibition of 1867. In the 19th century photographers found that the sub-continent offered limitless opportunities to record a vast diversity of peoples and their dress, manners, trades, customs and religions. Ethnographical prints were produced by large firms operating in India as well as by smaller or temporary studios to meet European demands for souvenirs from the East. Figures were often posed to display their characteristic attributes and artefacts. The Indian photographer Hurrichund Chintamon began one of the oldest photographic firms in Bombay (1858-81). He made a notable contribution to the book, 'The People of India'. Indian Museum, London, 1868-75.