The Maratha ruler Mahadji Scindia (reg. 1768-94) seated on a terrace with singers and musicians

Lucknow, circa 1770

Footnotes

The ruler of Gwalior from 1768 to 1794, Mahadji Scindia is often seen as a hero after restoring Maratha domination over northern India within a decade of the
disastrous Battle of Panipat in 1761, when they were defeated by the Afghan forces. After the Mughal defeat at Buxar in 1764, Shah Alam II was prevented from returning to Delhi and was forced to stay in Allahabad. With the Maratha resurrection in 1771, Mahadji's army escorted the emperor back to Delhi, thus restoring the Mughal sovereign to power there. Scindia became the regent of the empire, effectively making Shah Alam II a puppet of the Marathas. He went on to annihilate the power of the Jats of Mathura and during 1772–73, he destroyed the power of the Rohillas in Rohilkhand.

As a result of his power and his interaction with European empires he was often portrayed by European artists, such as James Wales' portraits of him and other Maratha figures; two sketches by Robert Mabon, circa 1793, in the Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon collection (B1977.14.22259 and B1977.14.22385). For another portrayal by an Indian artist, see the painting of Mahadji Scindia entertaining British officers with a nautch, circa 1815, British Library (Add. Or.1).

It has been suggested that the painting might have been produced for Colonel Antoine Louis Henri Polier (1741–1795). Polier, born in Lausanne in 1741, entered the service of the British East India Company as a surveyor in 1757. By 1762, he had become Chief Engineer of the Bengal Army in Calcutta and began working on the design and construction of the new Fort William. It was suggested that the Nawab, Shuja' al-Daula, make him the chief architect for the kingdom of Awadh (as well as acting as the agent of the East India Company at the Nawab's court. Polier became wealthy from his commissions for court buildings as well as from private trading. He was dismissed from the service of the Nawab of Awadh in 1782, and was asked by Warren Hastings to remain in Lucknow as an appointee of the Company with the honorary rank of Lieutenant-Colonel, as Polier's knowledge of Awadh was considered essential to the Company's interests. After thirty years in India, Polier left in 1787 and settled in France, where he was murdered in a robbery in 1795.

Polier collected Persian and Sanskrit manuscripts and Indian miniatures, and he possessed a complete collection of the Vedas. His collection began with a gift of three albums given to him in 1767, which inspired him to assemble further albums including scenes of Indian life that were being created to satisfy Western taste. He collected the antique works he could find, and also commissioned new works, principally through his favoured retained artist Mihr Chand, who was largely responsible for arranging the layout and decoration of the albums made for his collection of paintings.