Maharashtra & Gujarat

Picturesque views in Maharashtra and Gujarat by Sir James Braithwaite Peile (1833–1906), at Thana, Ghogha, the Kathiawar peninsula and the Gulf of Khambhat.

Peile was one of the most instrumental figures in this region during the British Raj. He held numerous significant administrative positions, including municipal commissioner of Bombay, political agent in Kathiawar, vice-chancellor of Bombay University, and, in 1885, Governor of Bombay.

By all accounts Peile was one of the more sympathetic colonial administrators, repeatedly advocating for the rights of the local ruling chiefs, and laying the foundations of primary education in Bombay. On his return to England in 1887 Peile was appointed to the Council of India, where he was one of the first to argue for the need for increasing the powers of provincial councils and the number of Indians admitted to the higher branches of the civil service.

View the full collection by Sir James Braithwaite Peile.

Image 5 © National Portrait Gallery, London