Bani Thani was a singer and poet in Kishangarh in the time of Raja Samant Singh (1748–1764), whose mistress she became. After he abdicated the throne the couple retired to a comfortable life in Brindavan, a place associated with the life of Krishna, to whom Samant Singh was greatly devoted. A group of Indian miniature paintings of around 1750 attributed to Nihâl Chand from the Marwar school of Kishangarh show Krishna and Radha, using the same models, who are assumed to be Sawant Singh and Bani Thani.