Seran Raja's palace by James Baillie Fraser - 1820

This coloured aquatint was made by Robert Havell and Son from plate 1 of JB Fraser's 'Views in the Himala Mountains'. James and William Fraser (who was Political Agent to Major-General Martindale) reached Sarahan, the picturesque summer residence of the Bushair rajas, on 16 June 1815. Now a tiny village, best-known for the Bhimakali temple, it sits high on a ridge above the Sutlej river. The young Raja, who was only 8 years old, came out of his palace to pay the travellers a visit. From Sarahan they had a good view of the peaks of Bandarpunch near the source of the river Yamuna. It rained incessantly, forcing them to stay in their tents for several days before continuing their journey.

A current photograph of this builiding

A Current photograph from the same angle


Source: British Library

Bheem ke Udar by James Baillie Fraser - 1820

This coloured aquatint was made by Robert Havell and Son from plate 7 of JB Fraser's 'Views in the Himala Mountains'. While crossing the mountain pass between the valleys of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers, on their way to the source of the latter, Fraser and his party spent a night at this spot. It is named after Bhima, one of the five Pandava brothers in the epic Mahabharata. Fraser wrote: "Our encamping ground was ... a cave under a large stone, called Bheem-Ke-Udar; in a dry night it is sufficiently comfortable, but rain would readily beat in. In this cavern, and under a few other large stones around it, there was some shelter, though scanty for our company."

Source: British Library

View of the country from Urshalun Teeba by James Baillie Fraser - 1820

This coloured aquatint by Robert Havell and Son from plate 3 after JB Fraser 'Views in the Himala Mountains'. On 18 June 1815 Fraser and his brother William reached Urshalun, near to where the Nepalese General Kirti Rana had surrendered. Three days later James celebrated his 32nd birthday by climbing the peak, Tiba, behind the village.

Source: British Library

Village of the Shai by James Baillie Fraser - 1820

This coloured aquatint was made by Robert Havell and Son from plate 16 of JB Fraser's 'Views in the Himala Mountains'. A mixture of tall temples and small houses made up the architecture of the village of Shai. Fraser wrote in his journal: "The village is poor and chiefly in ruins, but its situation is not unpleasant." In this area, he observed that the villages were inhabited by Brahmins (members of the highest Hindu caste), who he described as "a race that take that exceeding good care of themselves, which is generally observed of the priesthood in all countries where superstition holds sway".

Shai is near Chur mountain. It was here that the Fraser brothers received the news that the Gurkha general Kirti Rana, and some of Gurkha leader Amar Singh's men, had surrendered to the British.

Source: British Library

The junction of the Touse and Pabur by James Baillie Fraser - 1820

This coloured aquatint was made by Robert Havell and Son from plate 17 of JB Fraser's 'Views in the Himala Mountains'. Fraser and his brother William followed the river Pabbar southwards and camped two miles from its junction with the Tons. Both rivers are glacier-fed tributaries of the Yamuna valley.

Source: British Library

The Church & Residence of a Rich Baboo. Chinsurah. by Marianne Jane James - 1828

Watercolour with pen and ink of a Church and the house of a rich man in Chinsura by Marianne Jane James (b. 1805) c.1828. Marianne James was the wife of third Bishop of Calcutta. Chinsura is situated immediately south of Hooghly in West Bengal and was established by the Dutch in the 17th century. Chinsura was ceded to the British in exhange for the English-held Island of Sumatra in Indonesia and cash sum of £100,000 in 1824.

Ghaut near Chinsurah. by Marianne Jane James - June 1828

Watercolour with pen and ink of the ghats or bathing steps near Chinsura by Marianne Jane James and dated June 1828. Chinsura is situated immediately south of Hooghly in West Bengal and was established by the Dutch in the 17th century. Chinsura was ceded to the British in exhange for the English-held Island of Sumatra in Indonesia and cash sum of £100,000 in 1824. Marianne James was the wife of the third Bishop of Calcutta.

Source: British Library

Factory of the Dutch East India Company at Hooghly in Bengal by Hendrik van Schuylenburgh - 1665

Medium: Oil on Canvas

Here the painter Hendrik van Schuylenburgh provides a detailed picture of life at the VOC - the Dutch East India Company - headquarters in Bengal near the town of Hougly on the river Ganges in India. The painting was probably made from observation. It was commissioned by Pieter Sterthemius, the first director of the base.