Page:The People of India — a series of photographic illustrations, with descriptive letterpress, of the races and tribes of Hindustan Vol 1.djvu/9

 PREFACE.

URING the administration of Lord Canning, from 1856 to 1863, the interest which had been created in Europe by the remarkable development of the Photographic Art, communicated itself to India, and originated the desire to turn it to account in the illustration of the topography, architecture, and ethnology of that country.

There were none, perhaps, in whom this interest was awakened more strongly than in Lord and Lady Canning. It was their wish to carry home with them, at the end of their sojourn in India, a collection, obtained by private means, of photographic illustrations, which might recall to their memory the peculiarities of Indian life.

The great convulsion of 1857-58, while it necessarily retarded for a time all scientific and artistic operations, imparted a new interest to the country which had been the scene of, and to the people who had been the actors in these remarkable events. When, therefore, the pacification of India had been accomplished, the officers of the Indian Services, who had made themselves acquainted with the principles and practice of photography, encouraged and patronized by the Governor-General, went forth, and traversed the land in search of interesting subjects.

In this way the design soon exceeded the dimensions of a mere private collection-, but Lord Canning felt that its importance was sufficient to warrant official sanction and development, and, therefore, placed the matter in the hands of Mr. Give Bayley, his Home Secretary. Some of the more important results appear in the present work.