The Relief of Lucknow with Refugees outside the Dilkush Palace

It is unlikely that Thomas Jones Barker went to India. His paintings of India were based on the drawings of the Swedish artist Egron Lundgren. Another picture of the same subject by the artist titled 'Indian Mutiny and Relief of Lucknow', dated 1859, is in the National Portrait Gallery, London.

The relief of the three-month siege of Lucknow by the British marked the end not only of the Mughal Empire but also of the East India Company. In 1858 the British Government in London took overall control of India.