Born in London to a Scots family, James Forbes traveled to India in 1765 as a writer for the British East India Company and was resident there until 1784. He was a prolific writer and artist and filled 52,000 manuscript pages with notes and sketches concerning all aspects of Indian life, its wildlife, flora, and architecture. In 1781 he visited the Taj Mahal and became one of the first Europeans to draw it. James Forbes
