Maria Graham was the daughter of a naval officer who travelled to India with her father and two siblings in 1808. Her diary documenting her travels was published in this book in 1812, featuring engravings after sketches she made at various antiquarian and sacred sites.The frontispiece of this book contains an engraved portrait of Ibrahim, a Malay scribe or Munshi who travelled to Calcutta in 1810 to assist the Scottish orientalist John Leyden in his translation work. Munshi Ibrahim accompanied Leyden to the Government House where the Governor General of India, Lord Minto, presided over a disputation, which Graham was present at. Ibrahim wrote an account of this visit, which was translated into English by Leyden and published as an appendix in this book.
