Loss, Recuperation, and Identity


Beato/Sikandrah Bagh after the Slaughter of the Rebels by the 93rd Highlanders of 4th Panjal N.I.
 
In 1857 several Indian regiments turned against British officers, triggering a widespread rebellion in northern India against British rule. The expatriate colony at Lucknow was besieged, and its British residents eventually abandoned the city. The British army returned to Lucknow and slaughtered the rebels. By the time Felice Beato arrived some four months later to photograph the damaged palace of Sikandrah Bagh, the remains of the deceased had been picked clean by vultures. Beato is reported to have had the skeletons of the rebels scattered about, in order to satisfy the expectation for scenes of savage conflict.