From the mid-eighteenth century, a dynasty of Nawabs and later kings ruled Awadh (Oude) in a subsidiary alliance with the East India Company. Asaf al-Daula (r. 1775–79) amassed an impressive collection of paintings and manuscripts from the dispersed collections of the imperial Mughal libraries. His successors sent several of these as gifts to George III, George IV and William IV. This sketch of Asaf al-Daula was purchased by George IV, when Prince Regent, on 5 June 1811.