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Lot description
Lala Deen Dayal (1844-1905), His Highness Asafjah, Muzaffar-ul-Mulk, wal, Mumilak Nizam-Ul-Mulk, Nizamuddaula Nawab Mir, Mir Sir Mahbub Ali Khan Bahadur, Farehjung Siphasalar, The Sixth Nizam of (Falaknuma Palace) Hyderabad (Photographs by Raja Deen Dayal 1884-1910), Two red leather bound Indian photo albums with the title embossed in gold on each album, one containing 24 black and white gelatin silver print photographs, the other 26, laid on thick card embossed with gold borders of various designs, with handwritten identifying inscription in English below each photograph, with photographers' credit Raja Deen Dayals Nizams State Photographers on front cover in gold, (2) 35.5 x 49cm. (20 x 14in.) (2) These photographic albums document the life of the VI Nizam of Hyderabad Mahaboob Ali Khan, renown for having the most exotic and lavish court in India. Born in 1866, he became the VI Nizam of the Asaf Jah Dynasty at the age of three and was placed under Regency rule until he came of age in 1884. Hyderabad during his reign became noted for visits of royalty, royal hunts and banquets. Aristocratic visitors to Hyderabad included the Czar of Russia, the Archdukes of Austria, the Duke of Connaught and other viceroys. The population of the Nizam's territory consisted of 14 million people and covered an area larger than England and Scotland combined. Raja Deen Dayal photographed most of the Nizam’s daily schedule including his administration, the shikars and banquets as well as the droughts and floods and other calamities. he was succeeded by his son the 7th Nizam, Osman Ali Khan. Lala Deen Dayal was born in 1844 at Sardhana in Meerut in United Provinces and was a leading court photographer in the Princely states of India in the late nineteenth century, whose patrons included the Maharaja of Indore and the sixth Nizam of Hyderabad. Dayal pursued photography professionally beginning in the early 1870s , and encouraged by the Maharaja of Indore, opened a studio in 1875. Shortly thereafter, Dayal photographed the Prince of Wales (later King George V) on a tour of India, amplifying the prestige of his studio. In 1882, he assisted Sir Lepel Griffin on an architectural tour of India, producing images for the 1886 publication, Griffin’s Famous Monuments of Central India. Employed by the sixth Nizam of Hyderabad in 1894, Dayal captured opulent palace interiors and pageantry, the recreation and leisure activities of the Nizam, as well as intimate portraits of the royal family. The eloquent Nizam famously dubbed Dayal: Raja Bahadur Mussavir Jung, or “Bold Warrior of Photography.” Besides the Nizam, Raja Deen Dayal photographed various British dignitaries, Military exercises, the visit of King George V, then Prince of Wales. He also accompanied the Nizam VI to Delhi for the Durbar in 1903. He was honored in 1885 by Lord Dufferin and appointed official photographer to the Viceroy and also to successive viceroys like Earl Elgin and Duke of Connaught. He had a unique honor of being appointed as “Photographer to Her Majesty and Queen” by Queen Victoria in 1887. He received numerous awards in exhibitions in India and abroad notable the World Colombian Commission in 1893 in USA.