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VIKRAMADITYA
PRAKASH,
Universityof Washington
Inthis paper,I comparethe use of photography rajaof the PrincelyState of Jaipur,and by though they are identifiablyIndian build-
by SawaiRamSingh,the maharajaof the Princely JamesFergusson,the earliestcolonialhistori-
Stateof Jaipurin colonialIndia,andby James ings, in that theirdetailing,proportionsand
Fergusson,the earliesthistoriographer of Indian ographerof Indianarchitecture. Contrasting treatmentare clearlynot accordingto the
architecture.Contrasting the "objective" use of the ethnologicaland putatively"objective" Europeancanon, they arejust as clearlynot
photography by the colonist,withthe maharaja's studies of the colonist with the maharaja's Indian becausethey comb a Europeanvo-
hybridizedandillusionisticimages,I arguethat
photography, on the one hand,helpedfix "India" hybridizedand illusionisticimages,I will ar-cabulary.They are,in a word,hybrids.
intostereotypicalbrackets,buton the otheren- gue that the camerawas a two-edgedsword Thereis, however,a readyexplanation
abledthe colonizedto re-inventhimselfin more thatcouldbe usedbothto familiarize"India" at hand for this. In history books, S. Ram
contemporary andpotentially threateningways.
Foreshadowing the contadictorynatureof bracketsaswellasto disori-
into stereotypical Singhis often referredto as the "architectof
postcolonialmodernity,photography, in other ent and transformits subject'sidentitiesin modernJaipur."This usuallyrefersto his in-
words,enabledthe maharajato simultaneously more playful and potentially threatening troduction of a series of new practicesin
resistthe hegemonicinterestsof the colonizer
whilecovetingandappropriating the instruments ways.Photographyin the colonialframe,in Jaipurthat activelymimickedthose of the
andsigns of the Westto his ownends. otherwords,was both a hegemonictechnol- colonists,suchas his initiationof correspon-
dencewith the Imperialgovernmentin En-
ogy of subjectificationas well as a potential
Introduction conduitof resistantagentialpraxis. glish.3 He also spoke fluent English and
encouragedEnglishmannersamongthe no-
Followingthe rebellionof 1857, the English bilityof the court.4He set up newserviceor-
Sawai Ram Singh's Political ganizations,like the JeyporeSocial Science
governmentdecidedto disbandthe EastIn-
Circumstances Congress,that was intendedto instill con-
dia Companyand to makeIndiainto a do-
minion of the British Empire. Under the sciousnessfor social improvementamong
Crown, the new Britishpolicy stressedthe In 1860, S. Ram Singh, who ruledJaipur people,and revampededucationby opening
from 1852 to 1880, decidedto "reform" the English-inspired institutionslike the Maha-
importanceof creatingand maintaininga
friendlynativearistocracyof landlordsand old building department of the State. rajaCollege,the MaharajaSchoolfor Girls,
Known as the "Imarat,"it was responsible and the JaipurSchoolof IndustrialArt. He
princelychiefsthatcouldadministerand act
as a buffer between the populace and the forallthe engineeringandarchitectural work even had new engineeringprojectslike gas
Colonial government. As long as the orderedby the State.1The new PublicWorks and waterworksconstructed.It was thus as
unannexedPrincelystatesremainedfriendly Departmentwasheadedby SamuelSwinton partof this projectof "modernization" that
and loyal, the official policy was that they Jacob, a well-known Britishmilitaryengi- he had Europeanpublic facilitieslike a free
wouldnot be annexed.At the micro-political neer.ButS. RamSinghdid not takethe next lendinglibrary,a prosceniumstagetheater,a
level, however, the colonial policy was to logical step and disbandthe older Imarat. hugepublicgarden,a modernhospitalanda
maintainthem not only as an ally,but to try On the contrary,the Imaratcontinued to museumbuilt-all in Europeanstyle.
to make them a client of the maharajas thrive,with Singhentrustingit with the con- Ironically,Swinton Jacob may have
structionof most of the majorarchitectural been appointedas headof the PublicWorks
throughmanipulationof theirpoliticalsys-
tem. Thus, betweenthe statedpolicyof con- worksof the city. This doublesystemmight Department,but, as someone deeplyinflu-
ditionalnoninterference andthe de factoone implythat the "reform"of the buildingsys- enced by the artsand craftsmovement,he
of "interference,"and under the cover of tem of the Statewas a meretoken meantto wantednothingmorethanto promotewhat
friendship and loyalty, there was a lot of placatethe English-a way for Singh to si- was "authentic"in the Indianarts.He thus
roomfor interpretation and accommodation multaneouslyelevate and marginalizethe opposed S. Ram Singh's crude hybridiza-
thatenabledbothcolonizersandcolonizedto corruptinginfluenceof Europeanrational- tion and insteadpersonallytrainedand su-
negotiatewith one anotherin variousways. ism.2Unexpectedly,however,one findsthat pervisedselectedstudents of the school of
In this paper, I compare the use of the buildingsconstructedby the Imaratwere art to carefullycopy detailsfrom old archi-
photographyby SawaiRamSingh,the maha- liberallyornamented,usinga crude,hybrid- tecturalmonumentsin and aroundJaipur.
ized Europeanarchitectural vocabulary.Far He reportedlyspoke the local dialect and
Education,pp. 13-20
JournalofArchitectural
from being shieldedfrom the West, the co- worked with the stated objective that the
? 2001 ACSA, Inc. lonial presenceis writtenall over them. Al- students should so imbibe the "spirit"of
13 Prakash
negotiate and weave a thread between these testimony to the tremendous impression that
"facts"?How is power played out in these the foreign rulersand their technology might
curious images?Who is doing the watching, have had on him. Enthralled by the camera's
and to what effect? strange and curious possibilities, this subser-
vient maharaja, like others who collected
Rolls-Royces, may have simply been amusing
Negotiating "Loyalty"and "Friendship": himself with this new imported toy.
Tod and Ram Singh's manipulations S. Ram Singh, however, was not sim-
ply a passive cog in the colonial hegemonic
S. Ram Singh took every opportunity to project. Indeed, he actively exploited his
demonstrate his loyalty and friendship to the position with the Viceroy as a favored ally to
Imperialgovernment. He attended every Im- centralize his own power and to prevent the
perial durbar, and, when the Viceroy visited Residency from actively interfering in his
Jaipur in 1876, S. Ram Singh had triumphal court. As Stern has argued in his book The
arches, flags, and banners erected in the Cat and the Lion, he did this by capitalizing
streets. In an exaggerateddisplay of affiliation on the Residency's misinformed attempts at
he even had "WELCOME HERE" painted manipulating the Jaipur court.12
with letters fifty feet high with strokes eight These attempts were based on the writ-
feet thick on the hillside above the city." ings of James Tod, an English historian and 4. Manwith shotgun: photograph by S. Ram Singh.
In this context, S. Ram Singh's photo- social scientist. Tod considered himself to be
graphscan, of course, be interpretedas symp- a sympatheticdocumenter of the Rajputs.His
tomatic of his European pretensions and voluminous tomes, TheAnnals and Antiqui-
15 Prakash
17 Prakash
19 Prakash