Baluchistan. Rare photographs from the time of Sir Robert Sandeman’s Governorship, early 1890s.

A group of four album pages with interesting images from the early 1890s which belonged to a medical officer serving in Baluchistan. The first leaf has four 6 x 4 ins images, two showing Natives of Kej, Mekran, Baluchistan, one with the Naib of Kej. Another shows, with annotation, the site of an attack on Major Archibald Mungo Muir, a political officer. Another shows Native Officers of Sir Robert Sandeman’s Escort, which most unusually names these officers. two from the 6th Bombay Cavalry [Jacob’s Horse] and others from the 1st Baluch LI. The reverse of leaf one has four photos showing the British officers from Sandeman’s Escort 1890-91-1892, including the original owner of these images, Surgeon John Blackburn Smith, Southey 7th Bombay Cavalry, Sinclair 27th Bombay NI, Cartwright 6th Bombay Cavalry. The 2nd leaf has images of the Cantonment at Panjgur and the Khudabadan Fort there. The reverse has an 8 x 5 ins image of Sandeman’s grave at Las Beyla. The 3rd leaf has a similar sized image of Kalat in 1893 with an impressive image of the Khan of Kelat’s stronghold on the verso. The 4th leaf shows the Residency at Kelat in 1893 on the recto and on the verso Duke of York’s Wedding Day Parade, Kalat 1893 with a Mountain Battery, 6th Bombay Cavalry, and the 2nd Bombay Grenadiers. nov28/1

Provenance: Leaves from a broken album which belonged to Surgeon John Blackburn Smith, Bombay Medical Service and date from 1890-93 when he was serving in Baluchistan. The ffep of the old album with his name is included. a good carte de visite of Sir Robert Sandeman [1835=1892] can be seen elsewhere on the website by entering Sandeman in the search box. The smaller photographs in this group are quite probably the only examples in existence.