Lala Deen Dayal Biography 
Lala Deen Dayal, also known as Raja Deen Dayal was an Indian photographer from Sardhana, Uttar Pradesh. He worked as a commissioned photographer during his early days in mid-1870s before he set up his own studio in Indore, followed by Mumbai and Hyderabad. He also served as the court photographer to the sixth Nizam of Hyderabad and also as the photographer to the Viceroy of India in 1885. He received the Royal Warrant from Queen Victoria in 1897. His death date is uncertain.
Deen Dayal was born in Sardhana, present-day Meerut district of Uttar Pradesh. He belonged to a family of jewellers. He received technical training from an engineering college at Roorkee (present-day IIT Roorkee), and then joined government service as head estimator and draughtsman in the Department of Works Secretariat Office in Indore. He got attracted to photography only after that. He got encouragement from Rajas of Indore. Maharaja Tukoji Rao II of Indore state was his first patron. In 1868, Deen Dayal founded his studio – Lala Deen Dayal & Sons. He was commissioned to photograph temples and palaces of India.
As a photographer he earned success and fame, and very soon he set up studios in different cities. Dayal photographed the Royal Tour of the Prince and Princess of Wales during 1875-1876. He travelled with Sir Lepel Griffin through Bundelkhand and Griffin commissioned him to do archaeological photographs. It was a compilation of 86 photographs, titled as "Famous Monuments of Central India". After retirement from government service, he continued with his career as a professional photographer and worked in different cities like Hyderabad, Indore etc. After his death The Lala Deen Dayal studios' collection of 2,857 glass plate negatives was bought by IGNCA, New Delhi in 1989.
Published: November 27, 2018
Updated: November 27, 2018
