'Delhi Durbar 1911'

Photograph, India, 1911.

Gateway to a camp at the Delhi Durbar in 1911, with gate posts surmounted by artillery pieces, and suspended strings of electric bulbs spelling out two slogans, 'God Save Our Emperor' and 'Long Live Our Viceroy'. The Viceroy of India at the time of the Delhi Durbar in 1911 was Charles, 1st Baron Hardinge of Penshurst (1858-1944).

The Durbar was held for the formal purpose of enabling King George V as Emperor of India to announce his coronation to his subjects in India, and to receive homage from the Viceroy, Lord Hardinge of Penshurst (1858-1944), and his officers, and from the Indian ruling princes. The Emperor and Empress, Queen Mary, sat on a covered dais in an arena composed of two amphitheatres. The total number of participants and spectators was estimated at 100,000, including over 30,000 British and Indian soldiers.

From an album of 44 photographs compiled by officers of 3rd Royal Battalion (Sikhs), 12th Frontier Regiment, redesignated the 53rd Sikhs (Frontier Force), 1909-1922.