Key Information

Photographer

Rabden Lepcha?

Collection

Sir Charles Bell

Date of Photo

March 1921

Named Person

Khan Sahib Faizalla

Region

Lhasa >

Accession number

1998.285.322.2

Image Dimensions

81 x 81 mm

Head of Ladakh (Lopchak) Mission to Lhasa, Khan Sahib Faizalla, and his son, mounted on horse. Two attendants. Ornate brocade robes. In front of building with carved and painted earves and ceiling.

Further Information

Activity

Riding

Photographic Process

Lantern Slide

Date Acquired

Donated 1983

Donated by

St Antony's College, Oxford.

Expedition

Sir Charles Bell's Mission to Lhasa 1920-21

Photo also owned by

Royal Central Asiatic Society

Previous Catologue Number

L.268

Previous Pitt Rivers Museum Number

BL.H.292

Manual Catalogues -

Manual Catalogues - Bell's List of Illustrations entry: "[No. of chapter] LIII. [Subject of Chapter] Tribes to the West [Subject of Illustration] H.292 (b) Head of the Ladakh (Lopchak) Mission to Lhasa, and his son, both mounted. [Remark] L.268"

Other Information - Setting

Other Information - Setting: Bell's Diary entry for 17th June 1921:" Khan Sahib Faizalla , the head of the Ladakhi community in Lhasa came to tea with me. He says that during the Sino-Tibetan fighting at Lhasa, ten Chinese soldiers in Trap-chi left the whole of Sera monastery at bay, and killed a great many of them. // He says the people are pleased with me now. When the question of increasing the army was agitating their minds feelings about me were varied; but now the people are easier in their minds about this." [Vol. XI, p.11]

Other Information - Cultural Background

Other Information - Cultural Background: "There are also in Lhasa some two or three hundred Mahomedans from Ladakh, the north-eastern province of Kashmir. A few of these are descendants of the prisoners captured from Zorowar Singh's army. The latter were allowed to return to Ladakh, but some, of their own accord, remained in Lhasa. These Ladakhi Mohomedans are prosperous traders; an unaggressive community that goes quietly about its business and is amenable to the Tibetan jurisdiction. It was a common sight when I was in Lhasa, to see them wending their way to a park, three miles west of the capital, where they often spent the day offering prayers, reading books and enjoying themselves in the open air. // As is the case with the Nepalese, they wear Tibetan dress, and many of them have followed the example of both Chinese and Nepalese by marrying Tibetan wives." Tibet Past & Present , Bell, C. A., Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1924, p.243

Other Information - Dates

Other Information - Dates: The date of March 1921 has been given for this image as it seems to relate to 1998.285.323.1 which is detailed in Bell's List of Illustrations as having been taken in March 1921. His Diary does not mention the taking of this image, and it was most likely taken by Rabden Lepcha, probably under a separate arrangement by which Rabden would visit the mission with the express purpose of taking photographs [MS 23/02/2006]

For Citation use:
The Tibet Album. "Head of Ladakh (Lopchak) Mission to Lhasa" 05 Dec. 2006. The Pitt Rivers Museum. <http://tibet.prm.ox.ac.uk/photo_1998.285.322.2.html>.

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