Key Information

Photographer

Rabden Lepcha?

Collection

Sir Charles Bell

Date of Photo

November 1921?

Region

Gangtok > British Residency

Accession number

1998.285.623

Image Dimensions

81 x 81 mm

Residency grounds, Gangtok; path with foliage at the side. Residency partially visible in the background

Further Information

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.4

Previous Pitt Rivers Museum Number

BL.H.12

Related Collections

British Library, Oriental and India Office Collections

Manual Catalogues -

Manual Catalogues - Bell's List of Illustrations entry: "[No. of chapter] 1. [Subject of Chapter] Sikkim. [Subject of illustration] H.12 (w) The Residency Grounds, Gangtok. Tree ferns in foreground, office in background. [Remarks] Q. neg only. L.4 (Y in L)"

Notes on print/mount - '3' has been marked on the surround in blue-black ink. These numbers seem to relate to a sub-set of the lantern slides which were used for lantern lectures on 'A Year in Lhasa' and 'The Dalai Lama'. This slide seems to have been used as slide 3 in the lecture 'A Year in Lhasa', which was first presented at the Royal Geographical Society on 3rd December 1923. The text, with a lesser number of images, was later published in The Geographical Journal of February 1924. Bell may also have presented this lecture on other occasions about which we have no information at present. [MS 19/8/2004]

Other Information - Dates

Other Information - Dates: In 1904 and 1906-1907 Sir Charles was temporarily in charge of the administration of Sikkim. He was made Political Officer of Sikkim, Bhutan and Tibet in 1908 and remained in this position until 1918, being based at Gangtok in the Residency. Some of the photographs in his collection were taken during this period. However, Bell returned to Gangtok on November 11th 1921 following his mission to Lhasa, and he seems to have taken a number of images of the residency at that time [MS 21/9/2004]

Other Information - Setting

Other Information - Setting: "Gangtok, the capital of Sikkim. During recent years this village on the mountain side, one of the world's smallest capitals, has acquired a share in the Tibetan trade. When I was in Sikkim, we arranged camping-grounds with fuel, fodder and water at convenient stages along the mountain tracks, a site for warehouses in the vicinity of Gangtok while the administration of the State was regularized more or less on British lines. So the Tibetan traders, who value just laws and a stable administration, even though of foreign make, have begun gradually to use Gangtok as a trading centre." 'The People of Tibet', Bell, C. A., Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1928, p.113

For Citation use:
The Tibet Album. "Residency grounds, Gangtok" 05 Dec. 2006. The Pitt Rivers Museum. <http://tibet.prm.ox.ac.uk/photo_1998.285.623.html>.

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