The Portrait Gallery of Western India
R H Jalbhoy, The Portrait Gallery of Western India: embellished with 51 life-like portraits of the princes, chiefs and nobles, from celebrated artists in London; enriched with historical, political and biographical accounts from most authentic sources, in Gujarati and English, Bombay: Printed at the Education Society's Press, Byculla, 1886
51 tinted lithographic portrait (later hand-coloured) plates of the rulers of the princely states of Western India and of eminent Parsis and Hindus, text and captions in English and Gujarati, and portraits of Queen Victoria and the author; rebound full leather
11.5 x 10 in (30 x 25 cm)
PORTRAITS OF POWER: WESTERN INDIA’S PRINCES, PATRONS AND REFORMERS (BOMBAY, 1886)
The portraits are tinted lithographs printed by Vincent Brooks, Day and Son of London, and many are based on photographs of the sitters. The portraits include those of [as spelt in the book]:
Mir Mahbub Ali Khan, Nizam of Deccan; Maharaja Sayaji Rao of Baroda; the late Maharaja Pragmuljee of Cutch; Maharaja Khengarji of Cutch; the late Mohobut Khanjee Babee of Joonaghud; Prince Bahadoor Khanjee of Joonaghud; the rulers of Morvee, Drangdra, Bhownagar, Nawanagar, Gondal, Wadhwan, Lakhtur, Rajkote, and Jusdhun; Sir Salar Jung; and Madhavrao Dewan of Baroda.
Parsis: Sir Jamsetji Jeejibhoy, First Baronet and Second Baronet; Cawasjee Jehangeer Readymoney; Rustomji Jumsetji Jeejibhoy; Maneckji Nosserwanjee Petit; Framji Nasserwanji Patell; Byramji Jeejeebhoy; Ardaseer Hormarji; Dadabhai Naoroji; Naoroji Furdunji; Dinshawji Manockji Petit; and Dossabhai Framji.
Among the eminent Hindus are Jagannathji Sankarsett, Gopalrao Deshmukh, Nanabhai Haridas, Gowreeshankar Oodeshankar, Samuldass Permanandass, Lakmidass Khimjee, and Bholanath Sarabhoy of Ahmedabad. There are also some Muslim sitters.
The work began in 1876, but due to some obstacles, it could only be printed in 1886. It was presented to Queen Victoria by the author on 27 July 1886.
Issued at the height of the late-Victorian print boom, The Portrait Gallery of Western India is among the most ambitious image-led publications on Western India, marrying Bombay-printed bilingual letterpress with London-printed tinted lithographs after photographic sources. Conceived to honour princely rulers and leading civic figures—including prominent Parsi philanthropists and reformers—the album visualises a regional pantheon for English- and Gujarati-reading audiences in Bombay’s expanding public sphere.
The production history underscores the trans-imperial workflow of such projects: text and editorial work in Bombay (Education Society’s Press, Byculla) complemented by the specialist colour lithography of Vincent Brooks, Day & Son in London, whose plates emulate photographic tonality while conferring the prestige of the fine print. The album’s 51 portraits—including Queen Victoria and Jalbhoy himself—reflect a carefully staged hierarchy of rulers, administrators, merchants and intellectuals, many derived from contemporary photographs to guarantee likeness and recognisability.
Begun in 1876 and completed a decade later, the work’s formal presentation to Queen Victoria (27 July 1886) signals its aspirational role as a civic and imperial address from Western India. Today, the album is valued for its synthesis of photography, chromolithography and bilingual print culture, and as an essential visual index of Western India’s elites and institutions at a decisive moment of urban and commercial expansion.
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