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Adbool Rhechid, a nephew of Dost Mahomed Khan, 1839/ Thomas Wingate
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Title:
Abdool Rhechid, a nephew of Dost Mahomed Khan, 1839 / Thomas Wingate
Creator:
Wingate, Thomas, 1807-1869.
Date:
[1839]
Format:
1 watercolour on paper: col ; 21.8 x 14.5 cm.
Inscription:
Inscribed in Wingate's hand in ink on album page below image: Abdool Rhechid a nephew of Dost Mahomed Khan. An intelligent Afghan who gave important information to the British Army previous to the storming of Ghuznee on the 23rd July 1839.
Subject:
portraits
Afghans
Khan, Abdul Rashid.
Series:
Wingate album
Description:
This watercolour sketch is pasted in on page 9 of a leather-bound folio album containing 62 sketches and watercolours and 33 early photographs, many signed by or attributable to Thomas Wingate (1807-69), former British army officer and second husband of Eleanor Terry nee Rouse (1813-1898).
The subject of the sketch, Abdul Rashid Khan, was, as Wingate's caption states, a kinsman of Dost Mohammad Khan (1793-1863), ruler of Afghanistan from 1826 to 1863, except for a hiatus from 1839-1842, the period of the First Anglo-Afghan War, when the British army invaded Afghanistan and installed Shah Shuja (1780-1842) on the throne. Shuja was assassinated when the British army was forced to withdraw from Kabul in 1842. The information provided to the British by Abdul Rashid Khan came on the eve of a planned assault on the seemingly impregnable fortress of Ghuznee (Ghazni) by the British 'Army of the Indus' on 23 July 1839. He told the British that although most of the fortress gates had been bricked up as the British troops approached, one had been left open to allow communication with Dost Mohammad. Thus the Army of the Indus were able to pull off a celebrated assault on the fortress. [ref: William Dalrymple 'Return of a king: the battle for Afghanistan', 2013. [MM, June 2017]
Provenance:
The Miriam & Ian Hamilton Collection
Source:
Caroline Simpson Library & Research Collection ; CSL&RC PIC 2015/3: Wingate album
Rights:
You may save or print this image for research and study. If you wish to use it for any other purposes, you must contact Museums of History NSW to request permission.
Material Type:
Picture
Record number:
52311