https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Delhi_BookDelhi Book - Revision history2026-07-30T22:47:42ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=Delhi_Book&diff=324662&oldid=prevUpdateBot at 06:11, 28 February 20222022-02-28T06:11:34Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2019}}<br />
{{Use Indian English|date=February 2019}}<br />
[[File:Delhi Book (detail Thomas Metcalfe).jpg|right|thumb|Thomas Metcalfe]]<br />
'''Delhi Book''' or '''Delhie Book''' titled '''Reminiscences of Imperial Delhi''' is a collection of paintings done in [[company style]], commissioned by [[Thomas Metcalfe, 4th Baronet|Sir Thomas Metcalfe]] in 1844. It contains 120 paintings by Indian artists, mainly by Mughal painter, [[Mazhar Ali Khan (painter)|Mazhar Ali Khan]].<ref>[http://www.bl.uk/reshelp/findhelprestype/prdraw/asianprintsdrawings/delhibook/ The 'Delhi Book' of Thomas Metcalfe<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> The book was bought by the [[British Library]] and displayed in London.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2003/aug/16/art.highereducation William Dalrymple on The Dehlie Book | Art and design | The Guardian<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><br />
<br />
==History==<br />
It was commissioned by Sir Thomas Metcalfe, Governor-General's Agent at the Imperial court of the Mughal Emperor, [[Bahadur Shah Zafar]]. The paintings, done by Mughal painter, Mazhar Ali Khan, document the lifestyle of the last Mughal in 19th century Delhi. <br />
<br />
The book containing the paintings was sent to England for Metcalfe's daughter, Emily.<br />
<br />
==The book==<br />
The Delhi Book is an album consisting of 89 folios with approximately 130 paintings by Indian artists. The paintings depict [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] and pre-Mughal monuments of [[Delhi]], the lives of native Indians, and other contemporary material. Metcalfe added extensive descriptions to almost all paintings and bound them into a book. He had assembled the album as a gift for his daughter, Emily, who at the time in 1844 lived in England. The most important feature of the book{{Citation needed|date=February 2022}} is that it shows buildings as they were before the [[siege of Delhi]] during the [[Indian Mutiny]]. Many of these structures were razed, vandalized, or suffered neglect in the years following the Mutiny.<br />
<br />
<gallery widths="200" heights="200" perrow="3"><br />
File:Different views of the Metcalfe House, Delhi, 1843.jpg|Different views of the Metcalfe House, Delhi, 1843, which now houses the [[Laser Science and Technology Centre]] ([[DRDO]]).<br />
File:St Jame's Church, Delhi, folio from book by Thomas Metcalfe, 1843.jpg|[[St. James' Church, Delhi]]<br />
File:A panorama in 12 folds showing the procession of the Emperor Bahadur Shah to celebrate the feast of the 'Id., 1843.jpg|A panorama in 12 folds showing the procession of the Emperor [[Bahadur Shah Zafar II]] to celebrate the feast of the 'Id., 1843.<br />
File:Details of Skinner's Tomb, St. James' Church, Delhi.jpg|Details of the tomb of [[James Skinner (soldier)|Colonel James Skinner]] C.B. at [[St. James' Church, Delhi]], and Styles and titles in Persian of Metcalfe as Agent of [[Governor-General of India]](right page)<br />
File:Description of assassination of William Fraser, Agent to the Governor-General of India, in a 1843 manuscript.jpg|Description of assassination of [[William Fraser (British India civil servant)|William Frazer]], Agent to the [[Governor-General of India]], on 22 March 1835, in Delhi.<br />
File:Folio from 'Reminiscences of Imperial Delhi’, an album by Thomas Metcalfe, 1843.jpg|Scenes from a Royal procession, and a party of [[Skinner's Horse]] regiment.<br />
</gallery><br />
<br />
==References==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Mughal art]]<br />
[[Category:British Library collections]]<br />
[[Category:Delhi]]<br />
[[Category:1844 books]]<br />
[[Category:19th-century Indian books]]</div>UpdateBot