The ridge and fort of Jytock by James Baillie Fraser - 1820


This coloured aquatint was made by Robert Havell and son from plate 4 of JB Fraser's 'Views in the Himala Mountains'. A hill in the Nahan area of Himachal Pradesh, Jaitak was crowned with a fortress built by the Nepalese general Ranajor Thapa in 1810. It was the scene of one of the fiercest battles of the Anglo-Nepal War, when General Ranajor retreated there from Nahan. Fraser witnessed the beginning of the Siege of Jaithak; it was during his time there, he explained in his journal, that "the Devil of Drawing broke loose there was no holding him". He added: "When at Jytock with General Martindell's Army, I got seized with a desire to delineate some of the objects that there met our view and the first impulse was in an odd place, in our Batteries, when really it was not quite pleasant for the Enemies Shot were playing over our heads quite briskly."