Hafiz Abdul Karim; Queen Victoria with her dog Noble

1 portrait matching these criteria:

- place 'Aberdeenshire'

© reserved; collection National Portrait Gallery, London

 Like voting
is closed

Thanks for Liking

Please Like other favourites!
If they inspire you please support our work.

Make a donation Close

Hafiz Abdul Karim; Queen Victoria with her dog Noble

by Robert Milne
printing-out paper cabinet card, 1897
5 1/2 in. x 3 7/8 in. (139 mm x 99 mm) image size
Purchased, 2012
Photographs Collection
NPG x136331

Sittersback to top

  • Hafiz Abdul Karim (circa 1863-1909), Secretary and 'Munshi' to Queen Victoria. Sitter in 1 portrait.
  • Queen Victoria (1819-1901), Reigned 1837-1901. Sitter associated with 548 portraits, Artist or producer associated with 5 portraits.

Artistback to top

  • Robert Milne (1865-1952), Photographer. Artist or producer of 23 portraits.

This portraitback to top

To her great satisfaction Queen Victoria was proclaimed Empress of India in 1876 and thereafter imported an Indian flavour to her court. There was a Durbar Room at Osborne, and, after the death of John Brown, she employed as her personal attendant Abdul Karim from Agra. His airs made him, like Brown before him, most unpopular in court circles, but the Queen defended him with absolute tenacity and he remained in her service until her death. In Agra, Karim had been a clerk or Munshi and in 1889 he was created Queen's Munshi, relieving him of such menial duties as waiting at table. He rapidly graduated, as Prince Albert had done, from blotting the Queen's letters to helping in their composition; he also gave his mistress lessons in Hindustani. In this photograph Karim stand in attendance as the Queen works on her boxes in her garden-tent at Frogmore House in Windsor.

Placesback to top

Events of 1897back to top

Current affairs

Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee is marked by a series of celebratory events, and attended by eleven colonial prime ministers following the Colonial Secretary Joseph Chamberlain's proposal that the Jubilee be made a festival of the British Empire.
The Workmen's Compensation Act gives workmen a right to a limited compensation in every case of injury by accident arising from the course of employment; it is a landmark piece of legislation in employment law.

Art and science

Bram Stoker's Dracula is first published.
Henry Tate of the Tate and Lyle sugar company donates his art collection to the nation, buying land and building a gallery space for it (now Tate Britain).
Physician and psychologist Havelock Ellis publishes the first volume of his Studies in the Psychology of Sex, and the English physicist John Thompson discovers the existence of the electron.

International

The burning of Benin city by Britain takes place, known also as the Punitive Exhibition of 1897. The excursion, led by Admiral Sir Harry Rawson, was a response to an attack by Benin warriors on a British delegation sent to settle a dispute over customs duties collected by British traders. During the expedition the British Admiralty destroyed much of the city's treasured art, including the Benin Bronzes, auctioning off the rest as war booty to recoup costs.

Comments back to top

We are currently unable to accept new comments, but any past comments are available to read below.

If you need information from us, please use our Archive enquiry service . Please note that we cannot provide valuations. You can buy a print or greeting card of most illustrated portraits. Select the portrait of interest to you, then look out for a Buy a Print button. Prices start at around £6 for unframed prints, £16 for framed prints. If you wish to license an image, select the portrait of interest to you, then look out for a Use this image button, or contact our Rights and Images service. We digitise over 8,000 portraits a year and we cannot guarantee being able to digitise images that are not already scheduled.