Hackerry, Bombay

A label inscribed at the lower edge of this photograph identifies the subject as a hackery (misspelled as hackerry) in Bombay (modern Mumbai).

The term hackery was one of many Anglo-Indian words—anglicized words of Indian derivation—that entered the British lexicon. It refers most commonly to a bullock cart used for transporting goods or passengers. This and other picturesque modes of transport form the subject matter of many nineteenth- and early twentieth-century photographs of South Asia.