Koummars

Flemish artist F. B. Solvyns who came to India without permission from the East India Company towards the end of the eighteenth century, was that rare exception who lived among the subaltern natives rather than the elite expatriates of the trading company. In this etching he describes the Koummars of the title as: ‘The smith who is likewise called Lahaur [loha] works sitting on the ground…close by his side are his coals and his anvil which is often but a stone or a bit of an anchor…’