Archaeological Survey of India Collections: Western India 1903-05. Photographer(s):...

Green half-leather bound album measuring 385 x 220 mm, containing photographs taken by the Archaeological Survey of Western India in the seasons 1903-04 and 1904-05. The photographs for the 1903-04 season (prints 2147-2314) are the work of Cousens (or taken under his supervision). For the following year, 1904-05, Cousens proposed that 'I would take my Assistant, Mr Bhandarkar with me, so as to give him a little insight, on the spot, into the work I would like him to do this next season; that is, to tour through certain parts of Rajputana, gathering information, notes, photographs, and inscriptions, towards the compilation of lists for that Province.' In the following year Cousens was able to report that 'Mr Bhandarkar, who, a year ago, was feeling his way, for the first time, in dark-room matters, has progressed rapidly, and he, and his draftsman-photographer, brought in from their tour no less than 156 negatives - whole-plate, half-plate, and quarter-plate sizes, making, with my own, 189.' This draftsman-photographer was also a new addition to Cousens' team. Named Dhundiraj Govind Phalke, his employment had been sanctioned in December 1904 and he joined Bhandarker in Rajasthan in January 1905: 'He combines a knowledge of photography with draftsmanship. I have, as yet, little knowledge of his capabilities in the latter work, but if he is as good in it as he is in photography, I will be well satisfied.' For the 1904-05 season, therefore, prints 2315-2347 are by Cousens (or under his supervision); prints 2348-2503 by D. R. Bhandarkar or assistant.

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