New Delhi, Aug. 1 -- A s you walk through the exhibition, Princes & People of India: Portraits by Emily Eden at DAG, New Delhi, it feels as if the sights and sounds of 19th-century India are coming to life around you. The vistas of Shimla, Mussoorie and Lahore are faithfully captured in the hand-coloured lithographs and sketches on display. But more than the landscapes, it is the artist's visual study of different communities and individuals that stands out. These depictions are not just significant for their aesthetic quality but for the stories they tell of the sociopolitical shifts taking place across the Indian subcontinent with the expanding colonial influence.

Emily Eden occupies a unique position in history for creating a rare fem...