'Delhi Durbar 1911'

Photograph, India, 1911.

View of the Durbar with King George V and Queen Mary seated; in the background is a raised dais with thrones , with the 53rd Sikhs' Guard on the left and the Black Watch Guard on the right.

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.