In 1854-55 Capt. Biggs, of the Bombay Artillery, was appointed first official photographer to the Bombay Presidency. As a member of the Bombay Photographic Society he had been given a set of Ross's single and double lenses and a kit which enabled him to make 15 x 12 inch pictures. His task was to photograph the Muslim buildings, sculpture and inscriptions of Western India. The project was delayed by the mutiny of 1857 and was continued by Pigou, who died during the course of the work. Biggs subsequently continued, aided by Neill who worked in Mysore. Pigou contributed sixty of the negatives used for the prints in this publication.

Two volumes of photographs were finally published in 1866, Architecture in Dharwar and Mysore and Architecture at Beejapoor, an ancient Mahometan capital in the Bombay Presidency.