Robert Christopher Tytler
Robert Christopher Tytler (born September 25, 1818 - September 10, 1872 ) was a British soldier, amateur researcher and photographer . From April 1862 to February 1864, Tytler administered the Andaman and Nicobar Islands as superintendent from Port Blair . He left behind some irreplaceable photographic documents on the history of British India .
Life
Tytlers father Robert was in India born and served until his death 30 years in the Medical Service of the Bengal Army ( Bengal Army ), his mother was the daughter of a German nobleman named Schneeberg.
Tytler joined the Bengali Army as a cadet in England in 1834 and first served in British India in 1835. He later fought in the First Anglo-Afghan War and the First Sikh War until the British withdrew . During the Indian uprising of 1857 he had to flee Delhi. His escape led him via Karnal in what is now the state of Haryana to Ambala , from where he finally returned to Delhi.
Tytler married his first wife, Isabella Neilson, in 1843. In 1848, a year after her death, he married Harriet Christina Earle, a future writer after whom Mount Harriet in the Andaman Islands is named. Harriet Tytler later described her experiences at his side in several publications. Both were enthusiastic photographers and made hundreds of photographs with the then new technology that showed life in India. Some of the photographs were published in English magazines in the 1850s.
In 1858 Tytler photographed Bahadur Shah II in Delhi at the age of 82 shortly before his sentencing. It is possibly the only photograph ever taken by a Mughal Mughal.
In April 1862, Tytler became superintendent in Port Blair and the penal colony there, to which political prisoners in particular were taken for life. His dealings with the locals and several wrong decisions ultimately led to a massive conflict with his superiors in British India. As a result, Tytler was recalled in February 1864 and transferred to an administrative post, where he was mainly responsible for the museum in Shimla until his death in 1872 .
zoology
There have been several animal (in) by type of Tytler named: the Slender-billed warbler (Phylloscopus tytleri) , the Skink Eutropis tytleri , the frog Hylarana tytleri and the Barn Swallow subspecies Hirundo rustica tytleri .
Publications
- Tytler, Robert Christopher (1863) in E. Blyth, Report of the Curator, Zoology Department. Jour. Asiatic Soc. Bengal 32:88.
- Tytler, Robert Christopher (1865) Description of a new species of Spizaetus . Proc. Asiatic Soc. Bengal 1865: 112.
- Tytler, Robert Christopher (1865) Observations on a few species of geckos alive in the possession of the author. Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal 33 [1864]: 535-548.
- Tytler, Robert Christopher (1868) Notes on the birds observed during a march from Simla to Mussoorie. Ibis, 2 (4): 190-203.
- Tytler, Robert Christopher (1854) Miscellaneous notes on the fauna of Dacca, including remarks made on the line of march from Barrackpore to that station. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. 2 (14): 168-177
literature
- Harriet Tytler: An Englishwoman in India: The Memoirs of Harriet Tytler, 1828-58 , Oxford Paperbacks (1988), ISBN 978-0-19282-100-3 .
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Tytler, Robert Christopher |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British officer and photographer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | September 25, 1818 |
| DATE OF DEATH | September 10, 1872 |