Patrick Vans Agnew, Ferezopore, 1848

Photograph by Surgeon John McCosh (1805-1885), 1848.

Patrick Vans Agnew (1822-1848) was an East India Company official sent to the Sikh city of Multan (now in Pakistan) in April 1848 to oversee the transfer of governorship of the city to Sirdar Khan Singh. However, on arriving at the city, Agnew and his associate, Lieutenant William Anderson, were murdered by an angry mob. Agnew's corpse was decapitated and his head returned to the British by Multan's rebellious governor Mul Raj. These murders sparked off rebellion against British rule and so triggered the 2nd Anglo-Sikh War. McCosh photographed Agnew at Ferezopore (Firozpur) before he left for his posting at Lahore on 31 March 1848, little knowing the grim fate that awaited him. The poor quality of the image indicates what a haphazard business photography was at this time.

From an album of 310 photographs, 1848-1853.