White Desi | गोरी देसी

Student Handout 1: Analyzing a Primary Source

Focus Question: What is the perspective of British imperialism in “Colonel Mordaunt’s Cock Match” from 1794?

Title of Source: “Colonel Mordaunt’s Cock Match”

Artist: Painting by John Zoffany, etching by Richard Earlom

Genre Etching of an original painted work

Observations
Description What do you see? Evidence only.	Meaning What do you think this means?	Message/Argument Use the meaning to determine how people are relating to each other in the painting.	Questions What questions do I still have?

Student Handout 2: Context for “Colonel Mordaunt’s Cock Match”

The Rise of the British East India Company

The Mughals were a dynasty of Central Asian origin that ruled most of present day India from 1526 to 1857. After Emperor Aurangzeb’s death in 1707, the Mughal Empire began to crumble and regional rulers, such as the Nawab (king) of Awadh, founded independent kingdoms. As the Mughal Empire declined, European trading companies expanded their involvement from trade in spices and textiles to control territory in India. The British East India Company was the major European trading company in India, but there were also French and the Dutch traders. India became increasing cosmopolitan and in Lucknow (in the kingdom of Awadh) Indians, British, and French interacted economically, politically, and socially.

Colonel Mordaunt’s Cock Match from 1794

Johann Zoffany was an Austrian living in India at the time of this painting. He originally painted this work for the Nawab of Awadh in 1786. Zoffany then painted this work for Warren Hastings, the British Governor General of India, in 1792. Afterward, a mass-produced etching was distributed in Britain and the colonies. Zoffany painted several contemporary figures into his painting, including: Colonel Mordaunt, featured in all white clothing with his arms outstretched in the front left of the painting, and Nawab Asaf ud-Daula, the king of Awadh, at the front right with his arms outstretched toward Colonel Mordaunt. Warren Hastings is not in the picture, although he attended one of Mordaunt’s cock matches on April 5, 1784. Zoffany painted himself in the upper right of the painting, sitting in a chair and holding a writing instrument.

Student Handout 3: Investigating “Colonel Mordaunt’s Cock Match”es

Main Idea 1

How does “Colonel Mordaunt’s Cock Match” from 1794 portray the relationship between colonizer and colonized?

Main Idea 2

How does “Colonel Mordaunt’s Cock Match” from 1850 portray the relationship between colonizer and colonized?

Focus Question

Why do you think “Colonel Mordaunt’s Cock Match” was still important enough to be copied almost 60 years after the original painting?

Extension Question

Find another image of colonizers and colonized in India after 1857. How is this image similar to the two images of “Colonel Mordaunt’s Cock Match” and how is it different? Why do you think this is the case?

Teacher Key 1: Analyzing a Primary Source

Focus Question: What is the perspective of British imperialism in “Colonel Mordaunt’s Cock Match”?

Title of Source: “Colonel Mordaunt’s Cock Match”
Artist: Painting by John Zoffany, etching by Richard Earlom
Genre Etching of an original painted work

Observations
Description What do you see? Evidence only.	Meaning What do you think this means?	Message/Argument Use the meaning to determine how people are relating to each other in the painting.	Questions What questions do I still have?
Roosters fighting Fancy men on sofa People in background sitting and pointing Only Indian women, no European women Different styles of dress and head coverings Large tent, smaller tent over men on right Tallest people are white and standing over Indians Most of activity not about the fight Man in corner holding rooster Caption mentions important people in painting	British and Indians involved in social activities together Indians took part in traditional British leisure activities Many important British figures are portrayed in the painting Leisure activities like cock fights were a focal point for social activities Cock fights were a place to see and be seen	British and Indians were not necessarily opposed to social interaction with each other Despite both British and Indian attendance at the same event, the two groups remain segregated The two groups are also portrayed differently, not only in dress but also in status Indians and British cooperated together to produce large social events (working together toward a common goal)	Who are the people at the cockfight? Is cock fighting a tradition from India or from Britain? Who wins?

Teacher Key 2: Investigating “Colonel Mordaunt’s Cock Match”es

Main Idea 1

How does “Colonel Mordaunt’s Cock Match” from 1794 portray the relationship between colonizer and colonized?

British and Indians in “Colonel Mordaunt’s Cock Match” from 1794 are interacting at Colonel Mordaunt’s cock fight, and several important British and Indian figures are featured in the painting. Although the painting shows close social interaction, European figures are highlighted and generally shown separately from the Indians at the gathering.

Main Idea 2

How does “Colonel Mordaunt’s Cock Match” from 1850 portray the relationship between colonizer and colonized?

“Colonel Mordaunt’s Cock Match” from 1850 is a copy of the 1794 painting by an Indian artist. It portrays the same scene and figures as the original painting, although reversed. The background has been changed and groups of figures are spaced more evenly. Figures also look more alike, with less difference between the portrayal of Indian and European clothing.

Focus Question

Why do you think “Colonel Mordaunt’s Cock Match” was still important enough to be copied almost 60 years after the original painting?

“Colonel Mordaunt’s Cock Match” was painted twice by Zoffany, once for the Nawab of Awadh and later for Warren Hastings. The etching later made by Earlom was popular and widely distributed in Britain and the colonies. In 1850 the painting was still relevant enough to copy, and the 1850 version was most likely created by an Indian artist for a British patron. The two paintings capture a scene of close interaction between Europeans and Indians at a cock fighting match, often looked down upon by the British as a violent and exotic pursuit. Even 60 years later, British patrons were interested in the interactions between colonizer and colonized in early British imperialism in India.

Extension Question

Student answers will vary based on image selected.