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A lensman who mesmerised Nizams & Britishers alike
Moments in life forms the base of anybody’s emotions. Hence, it is important to keep refreshing them from time to time. And the best way to capture these moments is by photography. Ever thought when photography came to India? How did it grow in India? Who patronised and promoted it in our country?
Secunderabad: Moments in life forms the base of anybody’s emotions. Hence, it is important to keep refreshing them from time to time. And the best way to capture these moments is by photography. Ever thought when photography came to India? How did it grow in India? Who patronised and promoted it in our country?
Well, to know all these we have to go back into history. It is believed that photography came to India in 1870 and the first name who introduced the concept of ‘photography’ was Lala Deendayal, who had served in the courts of the Nizams as well as the Britishers.
Ashutosh Deendayal, a sixth generation of Lala Deendayal’s family who is also currently running the photo studio established by Lala Deendayal in Secunderabad in 1896, told The Hans India, “Lala Deendayal was born with the skill of photography.
Sir Henry was so mesmerized with his clicks that he gifted away his own photography equipment to him.” When Lala Deenadayal had set up the photo studio in Secunderabad in 1896 he had employed 50 Britishers to work under him. Lala Deen Dayal was court photographer to Mir Mahboob Ali Khan, the sixth Nizam of Hyderabad, who conferred upon him the title Musawwir Jung Raja Bahadur or the Bold Warrior of Photography.
Even prior to that, he had been issued a Royal Warrant of appointment as photographer to her Majesty, the Queen Victoria, which at the time was an extremely coveted position to have held. He started his career in government service as a head estimator and draughtsman in Indore.
Dayal quickly moved up the ladder, taking opportunities offered to him to utilise his skills with photography. His photographic commissions enabled him to set up studios and he had a flourishing business running a network of them in Indore, Bombay, Hyderabad and Secunderabad by 1870. Lala Deen Dayal managed not only to grab a toehold in the field, but an entire piece of the pie.
Mir Usman Ali Khan expressed his gratitude towards this legendary figure through the following lines, “Ajaab yeh karte hain tasveer mein kamaal; Ustaadon ke bhi Ustaad hai Raja Deendayal.”
He had access to the courts of Kings and Queens across India and was respected for his skills by one and all. During the British regime, he worked in close association with two important viceroys of India -- Sir Lipel Griffin and Lord Curzon.
Raja Lala Deendayal broke all the barriers and overcame all the hurdles to set a new definition to the art of photography. Since he belonged to the family of jewellers, therefore he had a hawk’s eye to observe even the minutest details around him and capture them on film.
