The pose of the figure in this watercolour appears in the centre foreground of plate 23, The Avenue at Baber's Tomb, in Atkinson's Sketches in Affghanistan, lithographed by Louis and Charles Haghe and published by Henry Graves and Company, London July 1, 1842. On July 20, 1840 James Aktinson marched with the 1st and 4th Brigades to Nanee, within telescopic view of the Ghazni fortress. This was the same day that, significantly, Abdul Russheed Kahn had escaped Ghazni and joined Shah Sujah and the British army. Without his intelligence, that the Caubul Gate of Gahzni was the only vulnerable point, the British campaign might well have failed as they had left their larger canons behind on poor political advice. James Atkinson, doctor, journalist and artist of the Afghan Campaign, became superintendent of the Government Gazette in 1818, and of the Press from 1823. In 1833, he became surgeon to the 55th native Infantry and between 1838 and 1841 served in Kabul. The present sketches are original drawings made by Atkinson on the spot and relate to his publications Sketches in Afghanistan and The Expedition into Afghanistan. The drawings are inscribed with references to the artist’ journal, and the artist’s notes explain where in his planned publication the various illustrations should appear. Clearly Atkinson intended many more drawings to be published than in fact appeared. His sketches in fact contain 25 drawings plus the original frontispiece (the original drawing for which is in this collection); 16 of the remaining original drawings are in the India Office Library. At the time when Atkinson was travelling Afghanistan was a little-known country. Atkinson took drawing lessons from the artist George Chinnery. He probably first met Chinnery in 1805 when he was appointed assistant surgeon at Backergunge, to the south of Dhaka, soon after Chinnery was in Dhaka from 1808. His wife became a student of the artist and Atkinson himself is known to have executed a number of copies after Chinnery in addition to his own original watercolours.
James Atkinson, The Expedition into Afghanistan; notes and sketches; Descriptive of the Country: Contained in a Personal Narrative during the Campaign of 1839 and 1840, up to the Surrender of Dost Mahomed Khan, W H Allen & Co, London 1842, pages 198-199 (July 20, 1840) J. Atkinson, Sketches in Afghanistan, London, 1842, plate 23