Gezicht op het Chattar Manzil in Lucknow before 1874

Darogha Ubbas Alli made this photograph of the Chattar Manzil in Lucknow in the 19th century. Alli was an Indian photographer, working at a time when photography was being used as a tool of colonial power, for documentation, surveillance, and control. The architecture of the Chattar Manzil reflects a hybrid style, blending European and Mughal elements. The photograph suggests ways in which Indian elites appropriated European styles, but also asserted their own cultural identities. As a historian, I am interested in how photography was used to shape perceptions of India, both within the country and abroad. I would consult archives and historical records to understand the context in which Alli was working, the patrons who commissioned his work, and the audiences who viewed it. Photography is never a neutral record of reality, but always a product of specific social and institutional forces.