'The Mall, showing Mackeson Monument & Well, Peshawar City', 1885 (c)

Photograph by John Burke, India, North West Frontier, 1885 (c).

The Mackeson Monument in Cantonement Gardens, Peshawar.

Following the 2nd Sikh War (1848-1849) Peshawar became a vital military centre for the British in India. After the Partition of India, Peshawar became the provincial capital city of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The city was a centre for the Mujahideen fighting in Afghanistan against Soviet Russian forces in the 1980s and, more recently, a target for Taleban fighters, following the '9/11' Al Qaeda attacks on the United States.

Frederick Mackeson (1807-1853) was born in Woodbridge in Suffolk on 2 September 1807. He arrived in India in 10 August 1826 where he served as an Ensign with the 14th Native Infantry.

Mackeson was a veteran of the 1st Afghan War (1838-1842), having accompanied Sir Alexander Burnes to Kabul in 1837. He also served in the 1st Sikh War (1845-1846). The Hodson Index records that in 1850, Mackeson retuned to England with the famous Mughal Koh-i-Noor Diamond. It was presented to Queen Victoria and went on display at the Great Exhibition.

Mackeson's return to India, saw him active on the North West Frontier. Hodson records his involvement in operations against 'Hindustani Fanatics' in January 1853, which may explain why he was attacked by a 'ghazi' extremist in Peshawar on 10 September 1853. He subsequently died of his wounds four days later.

From an album of 26 photographs taken by various commercial photographers.