IDNO

P.97019.WIL

Description

On Cech’s list describing prints:
“(58-135 where taken in Lhasa.)
100. The new regiment at Trap-chi 30.8.33”
100h/i. “The Trapchi Regiment”
MPOW: 124-5” [printed text]
For more information see Cech’s list.

The regiment at Trapchi. Numerous rows of soldiers stand in formation, their rifles resting on their left shoulder. Three officers stand out in front. Two flag-bearers stand at the front left corner of the formation.
The military band with drummers at the front and trumpeters behind stands in two columns to the left of the main formation.
A group of six spectators stands in the foreground, watching on.

Place

C Asia; Tibet; Lhasa; Trapshi [Trapchi; Trapje]

Cultural Affliation

Named Person

Photographer

Williamson, Frederick

Collector / Expedition

Date

30 August 1933

Collection Name

Williamson Collection

Source

Williamson, Margaret

Format

Print Black & White

Primary Documentation

Other Information

Transcription: The transcription of this album by Mark Turin and Sara Shneiderman was carried out with reference to Krystina Cech’s catalogue list alone. Alex Nadin has since revised their cataloguing by systematically matching their records to the images. Margaret Williamson’s handwritten captions for photographs have now been transcribed into the Inscription field, and Cech’s descriptions appear in the Description field. Correct entries for Place, Named Person and Other Nos. have also been entered by Alex Nadin. [Sudeshna Guha 29/10/2002]

Exhibition: A reproduction of this image was displayed in Collected Sights in the section Tibet, Bhutan and Sikkim with the descriptive label: “The new army regiment at Trap-chi. The reorganization of an army was an important but contested issue for the Tibetan politico-religious leadership. Certain aspects were modelled after the British Army in India, such as the clothing and rules of behaviour.” [Alex Nadin 09/12/02]

Place: Located roughly three miles north of Lhasa, Trapchi contained a military barracks, a weapons storage area, and a factory run on electric power generated at Dote, some six miles away. [Source: Memoirs of a Political Officer’s Wife in Tibet, Sikkim and Bhutan by Margaret D. Williamson, Wisdom Publications, 1987. CJ 22/8/2008]

This catalogue record has been updated with the support of the Getty Grant Program Two. [Caspian James 5/9/2008]