Portrait in Pencil

Circa 1940

5 x 3 in. 

Inscribed "Chief Officer in charge of the guest house of his highness Nawab of Bhopal.

The sitter is identified through inscription as the Chief Officer in charge of the guest house of His Highness the Nawab of Bhopal, a senior administrative role within the princely state’s official hospitality apparatus during the late colonial period. The drawing is traditionally dated to circa 1940, corresponding to the reign of Nawab Hamidullah Khan (r. 1926–1949).

During this period, Bhopal functioned as an important centre of princely hospitality and political exchange. Rabindranath Tagore is documented to have visited Bhopal in 1931 at the invitation of the Nawab, underscoring the prominence of the state’s guest house and the senior administrative roles associated with its operation during the late colonial period.

The artist remains unidentified. The work comes from the estate of Rathindranath Tagore, situating it within an important archival context connected to the Tagore family’s wider intellectual and cultural milieu.

Provenance: Estate of Rathindranath Tagore