From a collection of drawings of the Buddhist caves at Bamian, c.1850 (pen & ink...

Collection of pen-and-ink drawings, accompanied by descriptive text, of the Buddhist caves at Bamian. Plate 1 is a general view of the caves (with the celebrated Buddha image, now destroyed, in the centre), followed by a series of architectural details of selected caves. The drawings are fair copies from preliminary sketches to be found in other parts of the Masson papers. Masson visited Bamian on a single occasion in 1832, although these drawings appear to have been prepared at some later date (around 1850). From the collection of Charles Masson (1800-53), (pseudonym of James Lewis), Bengal Artillery 1822, deserted 1827, traveller, Agent to the Government of India at Kabul 1834-36.