[Kitāb-i tashrīḥ al-aqvām]

Son of a Scottish military adventurer and a woman of the Indian martial nobility, James Skinner (1778-1841) became a famous soldier with his private regiment Skinner Horse, which still continues in the Indian Army. He was a fluent writer in Persian, the prestige language of India in his day, and composed his "Kitab-i tasrih al-aqvam" (History of the Origin and Distinguishing Marks of the Different Castes of India), given by James S. Collins of Pennsylvania to the Rosenwald Collection. The castes presented here are Khattris, nobles who converted from Hinduism to Islam and who function as lawyers and judges. This particular Khattri seems comfortable and benevolent, and is blessed with a son or student fiercely attentive to his dictation. The style is of the Company School, paintings made by local artists combining Mogul traditions with a minute realism to record people and natural history for staff members of the British East India Company which was taking over India.