Posted on: 14 June 2010

Entrance to the ‘Chumalee Chok’ in the Durbar Bhatgaon - 1856.

Watercolour of the entrance to the Chumalee chowk (courtyard) within the Durbar at Bhaktapur in Nepal, by Henry Ambrose Oldfield (1822-1871), c. 1850-1863. This image is inscribed on the reverse: 'Entrance to the 'Chumalee Chok' in the Durbar Bhatgaon', together with notes.
Bhaktapur, the 'City of Devotees' is 11 km east of Kathmandu and 10 km north-east of Patan and is the youngest of the three former city-states of the Kathmandu Valley. Bhaktapur was founded in the 9th century and rose to prominence under the Malla dynasty. It remained a valley kingdom until the late 15th century when it became a sovereign state, together with Kathmandu and Patan. All three have similar architecture and were built around Durbar Squares containing Palace and Temple complexes. Dr Oldfield was Residency Surgeon at Kathmandu from 1850-1863. After his death his family published his 'Sketches from Nipal, Historical and Descriptive...' (1880), which described life in the court of the Maharajah Jung Bahadur and also contained descriptions of Buddhist architecture, together with illustrations from Oldfield's own drawings. Of the Bhaktapur Durbar he wrote: "In each city the largest and most important building is the royal palace or darbar. It is situated in a central part of the city, and opposite to its principal front there is an open irregular square, which allows free access to the palace, and round which temples of various kinds are clustered together...In Kathmandu, Patan and Bhatgaon, most of the principal temples are in the immediate vicinity of the darbar; many are within its precincts, and many more are crowded around or opposite to its principal façade..."

Source : British Library


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Hi Admin, First let me say thanks to you for doing an awesome job for posting these pictures and books. This is really a treasure. Little suggestion : Since this particular album is big(~600 pictures) . Is it possible for you create smaller albums. Those are easy to navigate and find picture easily. Thanks once again.

Thanks for this suggestion (many have mentioned this)...but I guess its too big and too cumbersome to do this now. : )

Thats OK. You can leave the current album at current stage and create new smaller ones.

Dear Subbiah: It is never too late to do something even better. This site is a real treasure of important historical documents. For ex: I never thought I would be able to read Robert Clive's statement justifying his great robberies from Bengal. Yet I found it last night, but lost it and can't find it now.You could leave the older documents as they are but classify the new postings into separate categories according to region, period, date or anything you find convenient. Thanks to you for starting and ably managing this fantastic site. Asad

Dear Asad Ahmed : Can you scroll down a few pages and suggest the Categories to me. Your feedback would be helpful. Thanks.

Subbiah: One convenient way to classify future postings could be according to the period. Ancient India (up to 1200 A.D.); Medieval period (1200 -1707, including the Sultanate and the Moghuls); Decline of the Moghuls and emergence of the East India Company (1707 - 1857); British colonial rule (1858- 1947); Partition and Independence (1947 onwards). Presumably the later categories would have more documents available, so the periods covered should be shorter. You could add a General section to include miscellaneous documents that do not fit into any of the above categories. (There is no need to reclassify older postings as that will take too much of your time.) This site, which is already so nice, will become even more useful and attractive to those interested in Indian history. To my knowledge, this is one brilliant use of the Facebook. Thank you.

Thanks Asad Ahmed. Will do.

A little comment on Oldfield. He was the Surgeon to the British Residency in Kathmandu.

Thank you, Subbiah.