Bankers

The four men seated here have may have been bankers, as their South Indian features suggest. The Chettiars, a caste of traders originating in South India, managed private finances in India when the British first consolidated their hold over the country's resources.

Although the identification of these men as bankers is not definite, the date of this photograph may provide some insights. This picture was taken around the 1860s, when European-style banking houses first came to India. This could explain why these gentlemen were photographed in such elaborate clothes: They may have represented a crucial link between British and Indian interests. The manner in which they are seated, consciously gazing away from the camera lens, suggests that the photographer meant to depict them not as anthropological types but as distant figures of respectability.