Born in the West Indies the son of the colony's Commissary-General, Samuel Davis returned to England on his father's death and joined the Madras Army in 1778, where he arrived two years later. In 1783 Davis, now a civil servant in the East India Company, accompanied Samuel Turner as 'Draughtsman and Surveyor' on his embassy to Tibet. From this time Davis worked in Bengal, where he knew Thomas and William Daniell, then in 1795 began five years as a District Judge in Benares. In 1800 Davis moved to Calcutta, where he rose to the post of Accountant-General before returning to England in 1806. He became a Director of the East India Company in 1810.

The present drawing, done during Davis's time in Benares, is among drawings he made of the remains of the Muslim Sharki dynasty. Another drawing from this period, of the tombs of the Jaunpur Sultans and dated 1798, is in the India Office collection.