A group of Lepcha shingle cutters at Darjeeling.

Photograph of Lepchas at Darjeeling, from an Album of Miscellaneous views in India, taken by John H.Doyle in the 1870s. The Lepcha people are the aboriginal inhabitants of Sikkim (which was the Kingdom of Sikkim till 1975, when it became a part of India), situated in between Nepal and Bhutan. The Lepchas have become a minority in their own homeland. Their shamanist religion and lifestyle has been a source of fascination to anthropologists. Their language is unmistakably a member of the Tibeto-Burman language family, but its exact position within the group is uncertain. This is a group portrait of Lepcha people gathered in an open-sided hut at Darjiling.

Photographer: Doyle, John H.

Medium: Photographic print

Date: 1870