Group of Bhooteas, Darjeeling, from 'Views of Darjeeling', 1860-80 (b/w photo)

Group portrait of two men and two women from the Himalayan region, posing outside a stone building. All of them wear traditional garments, with the women seated and their hair braided. One of the men holds a long, wooden stick. Full-length group portrait of two Bhotia couples at Darjeeling in West Bengal, taken by Samuel Bourne in the 1860s. Bhot (or Bod) is the Nepalese word for Tibet and the term Bhotia covers a number of ethnic groups including the Sherpas. The Bhotias' original home was the Tibetan Plateau but they now also inhabit Bhutan, Nepal, Sikkim and the mountainous regions of India, including the hill stations as in this photograph.