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1 of 253523 objects
Walter Fane (1828-85)
Risaldar-Major Hussan Ali Khan, Sirdar Bahadur, 13th Bengal Lancers dated 1882
Watercolour and bodycolour | 39.2 x 28.8 cm (whole object) | RCIN 916756
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A watercolour portrait of Risaldar-Major Hussan Ali Khan an officer of the 13th Bengal Lancers: three-quarter length standing to front, looking half to the left; wearing the uniform of the Bengal Lancers, decorated with the Order of British India, the Egypt medal, the Indian Mutiny Medal and the Afghanistan Medal. Signed, and dated. Inscribed: Risaldar. Hussan Ali Khan./13th Bengal Lancers.
The 13th Regiment of Bengal Lancers had its origins in the Indian Rebellion (1857-9), as an irregular force of cavalry. The unit became the 13th Regiment of Bengal Cavalry in 1861. It saw action in the Second Afghan War (1878-1880) and the Egyptian War of 1882. In 1884 the regiment was renamed after its Colonel-in-Chief, the Duke of Connaught.
Hussan Ali Khan was promoted to the rank of Risaldar-Major of his regiment in 1866. He received the Order of British India, 2nd Class in 1880, and 1st Class in November 1882. Like many of the Indian cavalry regiments, the 13th was raised to fight with the forces of the British East India Company against Indian soldiers who, in May 1857, had begun an uprising (also referred to as the Indian Rebellion or the First War of Independence) against British colonial oppression. Risaldar-Major Hussan Ali Khan's numerous decorations are evidence of his service from the hectic days when his regiment was first raised, and his subesquent loyalty to the British at historic colonial battles.
A contingent of Indian troops, who had fought with the British in the Egyptian Campaign in 1882, came to England and some, among them the men shown in RCIN 916755-916758, were invested with Orders by Queen Victoria. The Order of British India, 1st Class, carried with it the title of Sirdar Bahadur (roughly translated as 'Exalted Chief'), and the 2nd Class, that of Bahadur. Each of the men drawn by Fane received this order in November 1882. On 20 December the Queen wrote in her journal that she 'saw some very fine sketches of the Indian officers, by Gen: Fane' which were probably commissioned the previous month.
Walter Fane entered the service of the East India Company in 1845. He served in the Irregular Cavalry, 1849-57. He participated in the pursuit and capture of Tantia Tope, (real name Ramchandra Panduranga) a rebel leader during the Indian Rebellion against British colonial oppression, captured in Central India in 1859. Fane raised the regiment of Irregular Cavalry, Fane's Horse, and commanded it in the China War of 1860, in the engagement at Sinho and the capture of Peking. He was made a CB. Major General in 1879. William Simpson wrote that Fane was 'wellknown over the whole of the North-West for his ability as an artist. I have often said that he ought to have been an artist - Nature had meant him for that, and in saying so I meant no disrespect to his qualification as a soldier' (Simpson, pp.96-7).
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Medium and techniques
Watercolour and bodycolour
Measurements
39.2 x 28.8 cm (whole object)
Object type(s)
