Fifty Photographs: selections from SCUA collections

22nd Bengal Native Infantry, Penang

Title

22nd Bengal Native Infantry, Penang

Creator

Thomson, J. (John), 1837-1921

Date

1862

Extent

1 photograph

Description

Raised by the British East India Company from "native" populations, the 22nd Bengal Infantry were part of the backbone of the imperial project in South Asia. The 22d was one of many native regiments that mutinied during the Sepoy Rebellion of 1857, just a few years before this image was taken. The regiment was disbanded after the rebellion and a regiment with number raised. they were stationed in Pining, Malaysia, when Thompson photographed them. Thompson was a pioneering Scottish photographer in southeast Asia, traveling to Singapore in 1862 to set up a studio and traveling widely across the peninsula over the next two years. Also became one of the earliest European photographers in Sri Lanka, Thailand, Cambodia, and later China, all before returning home in 1872.

Collection:

John Thomson Collection (PH 002)

Identifier

muph002-b001-i001

Cite As:

22nd Bengal Native Infantry, Penang. Photo by John Thomson, ca.1862. John Thomson Collection (PH 002)