Descriptive Summary
Biographical / Historical
Administrative Information
Scope and Content of Collection
Indexing Terms
Descriptive Summary
Title: Edward Francis Chapman photographs of Yarkand and Kashgar
Date (inclusive): 1873-1874
Number: 2017.R.16
Creator/Collector:
Chapman, Edward Francis,
1840-1926
Physical Description:
2 Linear Feet
(2 boxes)
Repository:
The Getty Research Institute
Special Collections
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100
Los Angeles 90049-1688
reference@getty.edu
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10020/askref
(310) 440-7390
Abstract: The album of 90 photographs documents
the information gathering mission from Leh, India to Yarkand (Shache), China led by Sir T.
D. Forsyth in 1873. The photographs portray the southern branch of the Silk Road and its
routes, and are the first photographic record made of the indigenous inhabitants of Chinese
Turkistan.
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Language: Collection material is in English.
Biographical / Historical
Edward Francis Chapman (1840-1926) was commissioned into the Bengal Artillery (later Royal
Artillery) in 1858. He saw service in Abyssinia (Ethiopia), Arogee, and Magdala (Amba
Mariam) before accompanying Sir Thomas Douglas Forsyth on his six-month mission to Yarkand
(Shache) in 1873. Prior to their departure, Chapman took a compressed course in photography
at the Bourne & Shepherd studio in Shimla, India. Chapman rose through the military,
becoming Commander-in-Chief of India in 1881 and its Quarter-master General in 1885. In
1896, he achieved the rank of general and was made Commander Scottish District. He was
awarded Knight Commander of the order of the Bath (KCB) in 1905. Chapman authored several
books on military tactics and military history.
Administrative Information
Conditions Governing Access
Open for use by qualified researchers.
Conditions Governing Use
Preferred Citation
Edward Francis Chapman Photographs of Yarkand and Kashgar, 1873-1874, The Getty Research
Institute, Los Angeles, Accession no. 2017.R.16.
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa2017r16
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Acquired in 2017.
Processing Information
The finding aid was written by Beth Ann Guynn in 2018.
Digitized Material
Digitized by the repository in 2018. The images are available online:
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/2017r16
Scope and Content of Collection
The album of 90 albumen photographs documents the information gathering mission from Leh,
India to Yarkand (Shache) China led by Sir T. D. Forsyth in 1873 that was instigated by a
request from Yakup Beg, Amir of Yarkand and Kashgar, to establish a relationship with
British India. The photographs document the southern branch of the Silk Road and its routes,
and are the first photographic record of the indigenous inhabitants of Chinese
Turkistan.
Forty-five of Chapman's photographs were used to illustrate T. D. Forsyth's
Report of a Mission to Yarkund in 1873 (1875).
Ninety photographs are adhered to 89 mounts. English captions are written on the mounts
below the images. The photographs are numbered 1-97 sequentially near the bottom of their
mounts, with some numbers lacking: 3; 4; 25; 66; 73; 75; 80; and 90. Some photographs are
numbered in the negative; these numbers do not correspond to the numbers on the mounts.
Arrangement
Arranged in a single series:
Series I. Edward Francis Chapman
Photographs of Yarkand and Kashgar, 1873-1874.
Indexing Terms
Subjects - Topics
Indigenous peoples -- Asia, Central
Subjects - Places
Silk Road -- Description and travel
Shache (China) -- Description and travel
Kashi (China) -- Description and travel
Asia, Central -- Description and travel
Genres and Forms of Material
Albumen prints -- China -- 19th century
Photographs, Original
Contributors
Chapman, Edward Francis,
1840-1926
