In a first, international auction house Christie's had recently organised an online sale of documents of geopolitical change—photographs, pamphlets and proclamations charting events such as the Russian Revolution, the Spanish Civil and India's Freedom Fight.
Image source: Facebook/Christies
The biding for the auction titled Uprising! Geopolitical Snapshots of the 20th Century was on till April 27 and turned out to be a huge hit. The auction house, however, has not disclosed the earnings from the sale.
The online sale featured 118 lots, including pictures, posters, pamphlets and maps, which bear witness to extraordinary shifts in the global order. Julian Wilson, a Books, Maps & Manuscripts specialist at Christie’s in London, had chosen some of his favourite pieces which were put out for sale.
The auction offered three important lots relating to Indian independence, partition, and the independence of Bangladesh. Also, there were two extremely rare calendars from 1923 depicting the Indian National Congress, and the split that appeared that year between the Swarajists—those supporting the use of British-backed legislative councils—and the No-Changers, the supporters of Mahatma Gandhi. In the event, the Swarajists were unable to exercise much political power, and their aim of obstructing British rule using provincial and central legislative councils ultimately failed.
However, only 24 years later, independence was to come to India, but with it the partition of the country. Another collection had a photograph album with rare images of this momentous event. One image, dated August 14, 1947 showed Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, being driven past the photographer's British regiment on the day of official partition as they line the route in his honour. Other images showed the same British regiment's departure from Karachi and journey back to the UK.
Finally, there was a lot that contained 73 press photographs, dated 1971, showing the Bangladesh Liberation War of that year, as the country, then named East Pakistan, seceded from Pakistani governmental control. Many of the photographs showed refugees and displaced persons, with numerous photographs of Bangladesh rebels and Indian troops, as well as images of politicians and emissaries, including one of Henry Kissinger. It was this war that created the modern rock music charity concert, organised by former Beatle George Harrison and Indian sitar master Ravi Shankar, at Madison Square Garden, New York, on Sunday August 1, 1971.