Thomas Metcalfe, as Governor-General’s Agent at the Imperial court of Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar in early 19th century Delhi, ordered a series of images of the monuments & ruins of this city, to be created by Delhi artist Mazhar Ali Khan.
Here’s one such masterpiece…a painting of the Red Fort as viewed from Metcalfe’s house in Civil Lines.
A Date With Delhi 
wow, that looks amazing! very exotic, one might say.
If you really wish to explore the theme, you could try getting your hands on a book called ‘Aasaar us sanaadeed’, an Urdu work authored by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan. It is full of pre-1857 sketches of the most notable monuments of Delhi ( some of which no longer exist). What’s more, it contains meticulously prepared facsimiles of all the inscriptions that were found within or about the said monuments. I don’t know if there is an English version of the book. That is well worth finding out, though.
Thank you Naushirvan, will definitely try to find out about this book you recommend.
Wow! Reblogged on Delhi Baroque.
Reblogged this on Delhi Baroque and commented:
Ah… Delhi has its nicer side!
Naushirvan, Asar was never translated into English. A guy called Ram Nath did transcribe some sections in a book (can’t remember the name) but I think it’s also out of print.