Overall: 36.5cm (14.2in) x 23cm (9in)
Provenance: Lieutenant-Colonel A.S. Mackay MC, 7th Gurkhas, commanding officer of the Nepalese Mahindra Dal Regiment.
Full length sepia studio portrait photograph of Jer Shum Shere Jung in Nepalese field marshal’s uniform standing beside the diamond and ruby encrusted and bird of paradise plumed ceremonial headdress of the Nepalese Rana Generals, with the diamond set crescent-and-sun crested by a sarpech to the front; signed and dated 1910 lower right in the subject’s hand. Contained in an arched topped carved wood foilate scrollwork easel backed presentation frame decorated with the royal arms of the the Gorkha Kingdom.
The present portrait is a testament to the co-operation between British and Nepali authorities at the beginning of the 20th century. Initially rivalry between the Kingdom of Nepal and the East India Company over the control of states bordering Nepal led to the war of 1815-16. At first, the British underestimated Nepal and were soundly defeated. Thus began the reputation of Gurkhas as fierce and ruthless soldiers. The war ended in the Sugauli Treaty of 1816, under which Nepal ceded recently captured lands. In 1846 a Nepali royal plot led to armed clashes and the execution of several hundred princes and chieftains around the country from which Jung Bahadur Rana emerged victorious. He was made a titular figure, and the post of Prime Minister was made powerful and hereditary. His descendants the Ranas were staunchly pro-British and assisted them during the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and later in both World Wars.