Balrampur State. An unusual group photograph of 1891 with British and Indian officials.

1891. An 11½ x 8½ ins group photograph is pasted to old card and has minor edge damage to the card and two small tears reaching in to the photograph itself. Unftunately one of the tears to the card makes the name of the principal British figure difficult. leaving just Major –nson. Only one of the other named figures appears in the India List 1890,  W. Innes, listed as an official on the N.W Railway. The card is titled Officials of the Balrampur State 1891  The Golden Book of India, 1900 only has an entry: BALRAMPUR. Raja of. See Bhagwati Prasàd Singh which only tells us that he succeeded the late Maharani in 1896 and gives his residence as Gonda, Oudh. The central Indian figure wears an elaborate uniform of British style with an almost comically undersized dragoon helmet. Two others were British style tunics with sashes. The elderly white bearded gentleman standing to the right of the second row seems to have had a distinguished military career as he wears the the Indian Order of Merit with three campaign medals, the central one being The Indian Mutiny Medal. A photograph which could well repay further research. nov12/1