The Expedition for the Punishment of the Lushai Hill Tribes, Northern India

Artist and engraver unknown

11 ½ x 9 inches.

From The Graphic of 4 May 1889, p. 457 (front cover of individual issue).

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A scene showing British forces at the height of imperial power, with yet another occupied people being punished for resistance to colonization. The scene shows a Ltn. Stewart’s gun being recovered from the grave of his assassin, Chief Howsata, and accompanies a short report. The illustration is intensely dramatic – showing the handing over of the gun in the middle ground – and a detailed record of contemporary dress. The burning roofs of the houses stand in stark opposition to the imperious, overbearing stance of the British officers who oversee the exhumation: the stiff upper lip at work, with more than a little assistance from Indian soldiers.