A drawing of four male dancers leaping in dramatic poses, armed with swords and shields. Inscribed, lower left: orissa Paik dancers - Calcutta Pageant, Jan 1912.

In December 1911 King George V and Queen Mary were proclaimed Emperor and Empress of India at the Delhi Durbar. (A durbar is a court or official reception held, traditionally, by an Indian ruler.) Almost all of the ruling princes and noblemen of India, in addition to thousands of other Indian dignitaries, attended in order to pay obeisance to the symbolic heads of British colonial power. As part of their tour of British India, the royal couple visited Calcutta on 30th December. On 5th January the Calcutta Pageant was mounted in their honour at the Maidan (nicknamed the Hyde Park of Calcutta). The spectacle included a procession of 57 elephants and 35 camels. A newsreel film published by the British Film Institute, includes a sequence showing a choreographed combat between pairs of Indian men, who may well be the Paik dancers shown in this drawing. This performance appears to be a symbolic showcase for the martial prowess of the Paik warriors, former enemies of the British in India. 

In 1803 the British East India Company invaded and captured Odisha in eastern India, and deposed the ruling Raja of Khurda. The local Paika people were among those deprived of their hereditary lands and forced to pay extortionate taxes. A rebellion was led by Bakshi Jagabandhu, with the Paika joined in the fight by feudal chiefs and the general populace of Odisha. In May 1817, following much bloodshed the British forces managed to quell the uprising, and re-estasblish their authority. The Paika rebellion is also known as the First War of Independence, a title by which the Indian Rebellion of 1857 is more commonly known.