Muhammad Bey was promoted to Subadar (the highest ranking native officer in a company of sepoys) in 1897. Bahadur was an honour bestowed by the British Raj in India, often for loyalty to the Crown. Here he is wearing the Jubilee and India General Service 1854-94 medals. He was one of many soldiers from India who came to England for the Diamond Jubilee in 1897, when this portrait was painted. 

Rudolf Swoboda was born in Vienna in 1859 and studied under his uncle Leopold Carl Müller between 1878 and 1884. Between 1885 and 1892 Swoboda worked for Queen Victoria. On the 7 October 1886 he travelled to India, passing through Afghanistan and Kashmir on route, to undertake a commission from the sovereign. Queen Victoria paid for his passage and gave him £300 to cover his travelling expenses. In return he was to provide the Queen with sketches worth £300. The Queen gave Swoboda specific instructions: 'The Sketches Her Majesty wishes to have – are of the various types of the different nationalities. They should consist of heads of the same size as those already done for The Queen, and also small full lengths, as well as sketches of landscapes, buildings, and other scenes. Her Majesty does not want any large pictures done at first, but thinks that perhaps you could bring away material for making them should they eventually be wished for.'