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Dost Mahomed Khan and Part of His Family
Dost Mahomed Khan and Part of His Family

Dost Mahomed Khan and Part of His Family

Artist Emily Eden British, 1797 - 1869
Printer Lowes Cato Dickenson British, 1819 - 1908
Publisher J. Dickenson and Son British
Date1844
CultureSikh
MaterialsHand-colored lithograph on paper
DimensionsH. 22 in x W. 17 1/2 in, H. 55.8 cm x W. 44.5 cm
Credit LineGift of the Kapany Collection
Object number1998.64
DepartmentSouth Asian Art
ClassificationsPrints And Drawings
On View
Not on view
Inscribedl.l. corner in print: "Sketched at Calcutta. E.E. 1841."
Text Entries

A portrait of Dost Muhammad (Mahomed) Khan, ruler of Afghanistan from 1826 to 1839 and again from 1842 to 1863, appears in the center of this print. Two of the other men are his sons, Haider (Hyder) Khan (upper left) and Muhammad Akram Khan (lower left); Dost Muhammad's cousin and close advisor Abdul Ghani (Abdool Ghunee) Khan is at lower right.

By the time Emily Eden was sketching these portraits, Dost Muhammad had been deposed by the British and was residing in India. Upon his return to power in 1842, he passed through the Sikh capital of Lahore (in present-day Pakistan), where he was received by Maharaja Sher Singh. This visit, during which the Sikh maharaja recognized Dost Muhammad as the ruler of Afghanistan, is celebrated in the large painting to your left.

Emily Eden lived in India between 1836 and 1842 while her brother, Lord Auckland, served as Governor General. Several prints based upon her drawings-including this image and the one to your right-were published after her return to England.