Capt. Robert Grindlay

Robert Melville Grindlay was born in 1786 shortly after the India Act of 1784 sought to reorganise the management of the mighty East India Company, and the years of his youth were influenced by the focus of British interests on Indian events. At the age of 17 Grindlay joined the East India Company as a military cade, his father a London merchant having secured him a place. A year later he was promoted to Lieutenant and by 1817 had made Captain. After 16 years with the 7th Bombay Native Infantry, Grindlay retired at the age of 34, and returned to England.

During his relatively short military career, Grindlay’s various appointments within the regiment enabled him to travel widely in the western regions and pursue his interests as an amateur artist. Rudolph Ackermann, an eminent publisher, was quick to identify the market for fine prints of the region and in 1826 undertook publication of Grindlay's work. Grindlay made more than half of the original sketches with a large proportion of the remainder made by William Westall, a professional watercolourist who had explored parts of the Western Ghats in 1804. Issued in six parts, over 25 artists, engravers and colourists were employed on the project; Ackermann published the first 12 prints whilst Smith, Elder and Co. then completed the series.