The Urdu inscription identifies the sitter as Sahib Jan, ‘the inseparable mistress’ of Nawab Shamsher Bahadur. The inscription also mentions a date, ‘6 Rajjab 1224 of the Hijra’ (17 August 1809).
Shamsher Bahadur II was the son of the Maratha chief ‘Ali Bahadur (1758-1802) and the great grandson of Peshwa Baji Rao I and his wife Mastani. Maratha forces controlled Bundelkhand in Central India for most of the eighteenth century. ‘Ali Bahadur was the Nawab of Banda (east of Gwalior), and died fighting local Bundela chiefs while attempting to capture the fort of Kalinjar in 1802. Shamsher Bahadur II became the next Nawab of Banda in 1803. He held allegiance towards the Maratha forces and fought the British in the Anglo-Maratha the same year.
The artist, Uday Ram, has attempted to produce an Indian portrait in a European manner. This monumental portrait is one of the earliest dated examples of Indian portraiture exhibiting a British artistic influence.