The work is the culmination of a project Berwald commenced in 1863 as Lochleven Castle, (based on The Abbot by Walter Scott).

This was considerably revised for a potential production the composer hoped for at the Théâtre Lyrique in Paris starring Christina Nilsson.

The attractive overture may be a later version of the tone poem Humorous Capriccio (1841) from Berwald's Viennese years; it has occasionally been recorded.

The story concerns the widowed Queen of Golconda, Aline, who as a girl in Provence had loved Saint Phar.

Aline and her court are held prisoner during a revolution led by Sadomar, but she is rescued by Saint Phar, to whom she finally reveals her face.