James Rattray

James Rattray (1818 – 24 October 1854), born in Daventry, Northamptonshire, England, died at Dorundah, in the Ranchi Division,Nagpore, India. At the time of making his notable sketches he was a 2nd Lieutenant and (Artist) in the 2nd Grenadiers, Bengal Army, serving in Afghanistan.

In Great Britain. His father was Charles Rattray an M.D. (1779–1835) of Northamptonshire, and Mariane Freeman (1788–1866).

He had a good command of Persian and could speak directly with the local people.

Brown began his career as a soldier.

He was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant on 5 Dec 1838, the date of the sailing out of Gravesend of the Severn, a West Indiaman. This ship was later that same year abandoned at sea (mid Atlantic) on 29 December 1838 with 16 ft. of water in her hold on a voyage from Miramichi for Bristol.

He followed and served with his older brother by 8 years Charles Rattray (1810–1841) who was a Captain in the same period in Afghanistan.

Spent some time in the Hindustan

Rattray was part of a combined force known as the Army of the Indus. He was a Lieutenant in the 2nd Grenadiers, Bengal Army. He took part in the first Afghan War, from 1839 to 1842.

He was in Ghazni in 1839–40. The picture, right, depicts the final resting place of Mahmud of Ghazni. The artist in Rattray was in love with this particular spot (Tomb of Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni ) and viewed it as one of the most charming places in Afghanistan.

His brother, Lieutenant Charles Rattray, 20th N.I. (Native Infantry) acting as Major Eldred Pottinger's assistant, was assassinated on 3 November 1841 on duty at Lughmani, near Charikar, in the Kabul valley, at .

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