Plate Description:
No. X. GATE OF A MOSQUE, BUILT BY HAFEZ RAMUT, AT PILLIBEAT.
Hafez Ramut was a Rohila chief of great respectability. He commanded the forces against Nawaub Sujah ul Dowla [Nawab Shuja al-Daula of Lucknow], who assisted by the English, in April 1774, defeated the Rohillas, at which time Hafez lost his life.
The Mosque to which this gate belongs, is an handsome edifice richly ornamented, and as well as this entrance carefully finished, much in the style of the modern buildings of the same class at Delhi.
Pillibeat is N.W. of Lucknow, about 150 miles.
Thomas Daniell and his nephew William Daniell were the leading painters and engravers of Indian architecture and landscapes in the 18th-19th centuries. They were the first English artists to produce topographical views of India in their “Views in Calcutta” in 1788. Their best-known work is the monumental series “Oriental Scenery,” comprising 144 large hand-colored aquatint engravings in six volumes, which was published in London over between 1795-1808. William Daniell published a second edition of “Oriental Scenery” in 1812-1816, called the Quarto Edition, which featured smaller uncolored aquatint engravings, including this example.
See also M.2010.158a-b, M.2013.137.1a-b, M.2013.137.3a-b, and M.2013.137.4.
