Lord Hastings’s journal of his travel from Calcutta to the Punjab in 1814-1815, accompanied by watercolour illustrations by Sita Ram, records the events and views of this journey in more than 200 large paintings. Though Sita Ram’s picturesque paintings were a sharp departure from the accurate ‘Company’ views of Indian monuments, they nonetheless revealed his eye for architectural detail.

Taking the readers along as part of Lord Hastings’s party, J.P. Losty brings alive the 17-month long expedition in a flotilla of 220 boats from Barrackpore past Patna, Benares, Allahabad, and Cawnpore, and then overland to Lucknow, Delhi, and the Punjab, through Sita Ram’s never before published paintings of Colonial India.

Contents: Introduction. 1. The journal. 2. Notes. 3. List of Sita Ram’s drawings on the 1814-15 journey. 4. Glossary. Index of place names. Index. Acknowledgements.