Emily Eden's travels were concentrated in the northern part of India, with some excursions into the Himalayan foothills, where she encountered several Tibetan people. She was staying at the famous hill station of Simla (in what is now Himachal Pradesh state) when she sketched this particular group. In the summer, when the mountain passes were clear, many Tibetans descended into the hill towns of India to barter animals and other goods for such necessities as cloth, grain, and salt.
Europeans often referred to Tibetans as Tartars, a name derived from "Tatar," the Persian name for people of Mongol descent.