1)Overview

The photo album that I decided to choose is Northwest Frontier. The creators of this photo album are Church Missionary Society and Jean S Shariff who was a joint donor. This photo album was published in the year 1912. This photo album was taken from an executive from the London office of the Church Missionary Society. This album documented a visit to India. The purpose of the visit was to inspect CMS progress in places like Peshawar, Amritsar, Mussoorie, Simla, and Lahore. There were a lot of photographs taken that were compiled in this album. There were pictures that included human, pictures that only included sceneries and monuments, and pictures that included animals such as elephants and camels.. These photos that were taken depict and show the lives of Indians on a daily basis. These photos were taken during British rule in India. Bernard S. Cohn’s book “Colonialism and Its Forms of Knowledge” talks about British colonialism in India and how India was under the rule and conquer of the British. Conquering and colonizing India was a completely new experience for the British. The British had never experience something similar to this. India already had a stable government and their own culture before the British came. The British had never tired to conquer country that had a huge size in terms of land until they encountered India. Conquering India was pretty tough for the British. The British tried to alter and change the law system of India and the limitations of the clothing and garments that the Indians were allowed to wear. When refering to the importance of clothes in the Indian society, Cohn states “Clothes are not just body coverings and matters of adornment, nor can they be understood only as metaphors of power and authority, nor as symbols; in many contexts, clothes literally are authority.”(Cohn 114) Clothing are seen just as something cover and protect your body but it is also seen as a form of power and authority. It shows your status and how much power you possess. The British tried to make the Indians adopt and follow their own styles and cultures. The British wanted to confuse and strip off the self identity and status that the Indians had already possessed and attained. By doing this, the British see this as a way and a strategy of ruling the Indians in an effective and efficient way.

Cohn describes the British rule in India as ““ideological infrastructure of British rule in India.” (Cohn, p. 65). The album, “Northwest Frontier can be used to examine the ways that ordinary people contribute to this ideological infrastructure by showing pictures of Indian people greeting and facilitating the British. The photos show that the British have a clear sense of authority over the Indians.

2) Images and Descriptive Analysis of the Images

The top image shows a group of Indian men that are labeled as outpatients gathering around in a confined space. These men are peacefully sitting down and listening to the gospel. They are in a religious building listening to someone speak. The bottom image shows a group of outpatients waiting outside the religious building. They are lined up and waiting patiently to get into the building. The Christian Mission Society had an impact on the society since it attracted Indian men to come visit the church and listen to the gospel. The British are bringing new religious ideas to India.

http://digital.wolfsonian.org/WOLF037711/00001/7j?search=northwest+%3dfrontier

The top image shows a 5 Indian people including adults and children that posed for a picture outside the Tam Taran church. These group of people are passer bys that just happened to stumble outside the church. They haven’t been exposed to churches until the Christian Missionary Society brought the ideas toward the nation. The bottom image shows an interior view of a church located in India. The impact of the CMS definitely showed some influence over new religious ideas and views.

http://digital.wolfsonian.org/WOLF037711/00001/11j?search=northwest+%3dfrontier

The top image shows an Indian man, a British woman, and a British man sitting together. This picture shows the British and Indians making efforts to learn languages. They have books in their hands and there are books shown on the table. The Indian man and the British woman and man seem to have a good relationship with each other. Their is no specification on who is learning and who is teaching but it is very important regardless since one side is learning a new language and the other is teaching their own language. The bottom image shows the outside of a church which is the CMS church. The CMS church is an important building since it shows the influence of the British in terms of bringing their religion to India.

http://digital.wolfsonian.org/WOLF037711/00001/12j?search=northwest+%3dfrontier

The top image shows a British man giving judgement to an Indian man. His right hand is holding the Indian man’s right hand. The British man is called Chief Bishop. The two men are surrounded by Indian men who are looking directly at the confrontation. The bottom image shows Chief Bishop sitting on a bench. There are three dead fishes next to him and three Indian men standing in back of him. One of them is holding a dead fish. The dead fishes are a gift for Chief Bishop from the Indian men. In exchange for the judgement that Chief Bishop gave to the Indian men, he received fishes as a gift. Chief bishop is giving the Indians a new religious point of view.

http://digital.wolfsonian.org/WOLF037711/00001/23j?search=northwest+%3dfrontier

These 2 images shows a group of Indian people lifting up a palanquin. In the palanquin, there are several British women that being lifted. The group of people are walking through the pass in India. The British women are seen as a higher level than the Indians are. The British women are very relaxed while the Indians appear to be very tired and exhausted. These images show that the British are taking advantage of their authority and power in India by making the Indians do hard work for them.

http://digital.wolfsonian.org/WOLF037711/00001/44j?search=northwest+%3dfrontier

3) Further Thoughts

Overall, I think this photo album, Northwest Frontier did pretty well in terms of showing off the daily lives of Indians and the British during British colonial rule in India. The role of the CMS is India seems to have a huge effect on the people of India. The CMS brought a different religious view and ideas to India which had the Indians going to church to listen to the gospel and also receive judgement from the bishop. Similar to what Cohn wrote in his book, British rule in India brought new ideas and thoughts to the nation which had new religious point of views coming in to the country. British rule in India also brought the exchange of languages of the two sides. Do you think the Indians have benefited of British rule in India? Do you think the CMS had a good effect on the nation of India?

4) References

Cohn, Bernard S. Colonialism and its forms of knowledge the British in India. Princeton, NJ: Princeton U Press, 2006. Print.

http://digital.wolfsonian.org/WOLF037711/00001/7j?search=northwest+%3dfrontier

http://digital.wolfsonian.org/WOLF037711/00001/11j?search=northwest+%3dfrontier

http://digital.wolfsonian.org/WOLF037711/00001/12j?search=northwest+%3dfrontier

http://digital.wolfsonian.org/WOLF037711/00001/23j?search=northwest+%3dfrontier

http://digital.wolfsonian.org/WOLF037711/00001/44j?search=northwest+%3dfrontier