Ruins by the River, Rajmahal, Bihar

The view shows part of the palace built by Shah Shuja, whilst governor of Bengal. It was already ruined by the late 18th Century, and almost nothing survives of it today, apart from one hall known as the Sangi Dalan. This drawing is thus is a valuable documentary record, confirming and adding to the information contained in the drawings and oils made by William Hodges as a result of his own visit to the site in the spring of 1781. Sketching the view from the river side involved practical difficulties, as William noted: 'There was great trouble in getting the Boats round the old pieces of Building that had fell into the River as the current ran with an amazing swiftness. Saw many alligators of a very large kind in the River' (Journal). The drawing is unusual as one of the very few by the Daniells on blue paper. Although it did not serve as the basis of any later work, clearly the palace impressed them:
'Rajemah'l' was originally a place of great consequence, of which there are even now many remains, though at this time it is a place of little consideration, presenting the appearance of a large, meanly built village. There are still to be seen, in a very dilapidated state of course, several rooms of what was originally a spacious palace. Some of these apartments, as the remains show, were of marble, and no doubt once glittered with all the gorgeous pomp of eastern magnificence: they are now a refuge 'for the moles and the bats' (Oriental Annual, 1834, pp.93-4).

For an account of Hodges and the Daniells at Rajmahal, see Rohatgi and Godrej, 1995, pp.53-66.