The Ridge and Fort of Jytock

1820

Colour aquatint on paper

Without mount: 20.5 x 26.5 in (52 x 67.3 cm)
With mount: 25 x 31 in (63.5 x 78.7 cm)

Engraved by Robert Havell & Son
Published by Messrs. Rodwell and Martin, London

This coloured aquatint was made by Robert Havell and son from plate 4 of JB Fraser's 'Views in the Himala Mountains'. A hill in the Nahan area of Himachal Pradesh, Jaitak was crowned with a fortress built by the Nepalese general Ranajor Thapa in 1810. It was the scene of one of the fiercest battles of the Anglo-Nepal War, when General Ranajor retreated there from Nahan. Fraser witnessed the beginning of the Siege of Jaithak; it was during his time there, he explained in his journal, that "the Devil of Drawing broke loose there was no holding him". He added: "When at Jytock with General Martindell's Army, I got seized with a desire to delineate some of the objects that there met our view and the first impulse was in an odd place, in our Batteries, when really it was not quite pleasant for the Enemies Shot were playing over our heads quite briskly." (Source: British Online Library)

James Baillie Fraser, a Scot, travelled to India after the war with Nepal ended. Accompanied by his brother William, he explored the Himalayan region for two months in 1815-16, and the duo were the first Europeans to reach the sources of both the Ganga and Yamuna rivers. Fraser, who was tutored by artist George Chinnery, documented his travels in the form of sketches and writings. Upon his return to Calcutta, he was encouraged to publish these by William Havell. The writings were published as The Journal of a Tour through Part of the Snowy Range of the Himalaya Mountains and to the Sources of the Rivers Jumna and Ganges, alongside the present lot.

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