This painting is an illustration to the Akbarnama (Book of Akbar), the official history of the reign of the Mughal emperor Akbar (r.1556–1605). It shows the Governor of Gagraun in Rajasthan, north-west India, presenting the keys of the fort of Gagraun to Akbar in 1561. The writer of the history recounts that Akbar’s power and reputation were now so considerable that his mere presence in the region was enough to make the governor of this fort under enemy control submit immediately. The painting is by the Mughal court artist Madhav Kalan, whose name is recorded in the red inscription in the lower border.

The Akbarnama, commissioned by Akbar, was written in Persian by his court historian and biographer, Abu’l Fazl, between 1590 and 1596, and the V&A’s partial copy of the manuscript is thought to have been illustrated between about 1592 and 1595. This is thought to be the earliest illustrated version of the text, and drew upon the expertise of some of the best royal artists of the time. Many of these are listed by Abu’l Fazl in the third volume of the text, the A’in-i Akbari, and some of these names appear in the V&A illustrations, written in red ink beneath the pictures, showing that this was a royal copy made for Akbar himself. After his death, the manuscript remained in the library of his son Jahangir, from whom it was inherited by Shah Jahan.

The V&A purchased the manuscript in 1896 from Frances Clarke, the widow of Major General John Clarke, who bought it in India while serving as Commissioner of Oudh between 1858 and 1862.