Lot 51: Robert Hyde Colebrooke (British, 1762-1808)

The fort at Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India
watercolour
39.3 x 64.8 cm. (15 1/2 x 25 1/2 in.)

The sixteenth century fort at Vellore is situated on the Palar river, it was also the site of a bloody mutiny on the night of 10th July 1806.

The Indian regiments objected to the enforced removal of caste-marks, ornaments and beards and also believed (falsely) that the British were mixing pig's blood into their salt. They ran amok and massacred the 69th regiment's sick as they lay in the hospital. The British retaliation was just as brutal with 100 sepoys being dragged against a wall and blasted with cannister shot until all were dead.