Following the Crown’s assumption of rule in place of the East
India Company in 1858, the heads of the 575 princely states were left with their
former titles but stripped of power. The assertion of their position in society
relied on spectacle and self-presentation—elaborate clothing, dazzling jewels,
and lavish palaces. This local chieftain and his son are dressed in their
finest embroidered coats (sherwanis) and turbans
with jeweled headbands and “aigrettes” (sarpeches). They appear
solemn, each holding the handle of a sheathed sword. What a novel experience it
must have been to pose before Bourne & Shepherd’s enormous camera.