BANSDA. Maharawal Pratapsingh of Bansda. a late 19th century cabinet card

BANSDA. A late 19^th century cabinet card portrait 6½ x 4¼ ins [small chip to top right corner not affecting the photograph itself] showing a prince who we believe is H. H. Maharawal Pratapsinghji Gulabsinghji of Bansda, a nine gun salute state of Western India near Surat in the Bombay Presidency. No photographer’s credit is shown on the card. The Maharawal was born in 1868 and succeeded in 1876. The books on the table have a distinctive binding incorporating an elephant on the spine. This is a style used on prize books from Rajkumar College in Rajkot where many members of princely families were educated. One of our illustrations shows a similar binding in a private library