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John Dunlop, Mooltan, a Series of Sketches, During and After the Siege: Being Twenty-One Drawings, from Sketches taken on the Spot, by John Dunlop, M.D. Assistant Surgeon H.M.'s 32nd Regiment. And lithographed in Tints, by Andrew Maclure. With a Descriptive and Historical Account of the Siege, London: Wm. S. Orr and Co., 1849

Tinted lithographed title page and 21 tinted lithograph plates by Andrew Maclure after Dunlop, some hand coloured [?]; original cloth boards, rebacked in Morocco, housed in a custom-made, modern fold-over solander case by Robert & Maria Travis covered in textured brown silk with circular auspicious motifs, secured with bone clasp fastenings.
15 x 11 x 1 in (38 x 28 x 2.5 cm)

LIST OF PLATES
1. Fort of Mooltan from the west, Sept. 6th 48 / 2. Inhabitants of Mooltan / 3. The Edgah where Mr Van Agnew & Lt Andersen were murdered / 4. Neirain Singh, Cham Singh & Ram Singh, brothers of the Dewan Moolrag / 5. Major Edwarde's Infantry / 6. Major Edwarde's Cavalry / 7. In the trenches, Gen. Courtland's men / 8. Camp followers, Milk women / 9. Camp followers, Camel Drivers / 10. In the trenches-Septr 12/48 H.M.'s 32nd Regt. / 11. Mundee Awa Dec 28/48 / 12. Storming the 'Mundee Awa' or Great Mound / 13. Breaching the Delhi Gate. European sailors of the Indian Navy / 14. Explosion of the Magazine Dec. 3 / 15. Appearance of Mooltan, quarter of an hour after the explosion / 16. The 1st Bombay Europ. Fusileers storming the breach at the Koonee Boorg/Jan. 2nd 3 p.m / 17. Struggle in the Town-Capture of 2 Sikh Standards / 18. 'Churda Choke' or Great Bazaar-after taking the City / 19. NE side of the fort, showing the British trenches Jan 6, 1849 / 20. Dewan Moolrag in custody of a part of H M's 32nd Regt / 21. NE side of fort, Funeral procession of Vans Agnew and S. Andersen.

RUIN, RESISTANCE, AND ANNEXATION: DUNLOP’S AN UNVARNISHED WITNESS TO EMPIRE

Situated on the banks of the River Chenab, Mooltan (now Multan, Pakistan) was historically one of the most important cities in Punjab—renowned for its ancient Sun Temple, thriving trade, and Sufi shrines. At the time of the conflict, Dunlop described it as “the largest town in the Sikh territory after Lahore and Amritser.” As a strategic military and economic hub, it became the focal point of a bloody confrontation between the British East India Company and the forces of Dewan Mulraj.

A rare and significant first-hand visual record of the Second Anglo-Sikh War, Mooltan by Dr. John Dunlop provides a graphic and military account of the Siege of Multan (1848–49), one of the bloodiest engagements during the British East India Company’s final conquest of Punjab.

Serving with Her Majesty’s 32nd Regiment, Dunlop was present throughout the siege and created a compelling suite of battlefield sketches that were later lithographed in tints by Andrew Maclure, one of the foremost lithographers of the time. The resulting 21 plates vividly depict the city’s fortifications, encampments, batteries, and scenes of bombardment, as well as the storming of breaches and the post-conflict devastation within the walled city. Rendered with topographical precision and a surgeon’s eye for detail, the images offer a rare documentary perspective that avoids the triumphant stylisation typical of mid-19th-century campaign art.

Accompanying the lithographs is a richly annotated historical narrative based on Dunlop’s eyewitness account, offering insight into the military strategies, local resistance, and broader political stakes of the campaign.

Mooltan thus stands at the intersection of reportage, art, and colonial historiography—valued today by scholars, collectors of Sikh War memorabilia, and institutions for its unvarnished depiction of conflict and its rare convergence of image and first-hand narrative.

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