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On display at V&A South Kensington
South Asia Gallery, Room 41

Miftah al-Sarod

Manuscript Page
late 19th century to early 20th century (made), 1691 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Text in black and red ink on the front of a page numbered 18 in Arabic numerals, from an illuminated manuscript. This page is illustrated, in ink, opaque watercolour and gold on paper, depicting a crowned king beneath a canopy, holding a lotus, seated on a lotus flower, with two male attendants.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleMiftah al-Sarod (series title)
Materials and techniques
Painted, written and drawn in opaque watercolour, gold and ink on paper
Brief description
Front of a page numbered 34 in Arabic numerals, illustrated, king seated on lotus, with text in black and red ink, from an illuminated manuscript, a bound copy of the Miftah al-Sarod (a musical treatise by Qazi Hasan), ink, opaque watercolour and gold on paper, north Deccan, dated 1691 AD
Physical description
Text in black and red ink on the front of a page numbered 18 in Arabic numerals, from an illuminated manuscript. This page is illustrated, in ink, opaque watercolour and gold on paper, depicting a crowned king beneath a canopy, holding a lotus, seated on a lotus flower, with two male attendants.
Dimensions
  • Height: 24.6cm
  • Width: 16.3cm (maximum)
Content description
A crowned king beneath a canopy, holding a lotus, seated on a lotus flower, with two male attendants.
Object history
The Mifta al-Sarod is a musical treatise in Persian written at Daulatabad in the Deccan by Qazi Hasan, son of Khwaja Tahir, son of Khwaja Muhammad Qazi, in 1673/4. The present copy was written and illustrated, according to the colophon, in the district of Indur (modern Nizamabad) in the Deccan in 1102 A.H. (July-August A.D.1691). It was rebound, probably in the late 19th or early 20th century.

The treatise is a ragamala work or 'garland of musical modes'. It describes the six principal ragas or musical modes (given as Bhairon, Malakansika, Hindola, Dipak, Shri and Megha Malhar) and their 31 'wives' and 49 'sons'. Each raga has 5 'wives' and 8 'sons' but Shri raga has 6 'wives' and 9 'sons'. This is based on the system of Ksemakarna but modified in the case of Shri Raga. Thus the total number of ragas (male) and raginis (female) is eighty-six, of which eighty-three illustrated remain in the manuscript.
Production
This copy was written and illustrated in the district of Indur (modern Nizamabad) in the Deccan, in 1102 A.H. (July-August 1691 AD).
Subjects depicted
Bibliographic reference
Skelton, R, in The Indian Heritage. Court Life and Arts under Mughal Rule, V&A, 1982, cat.82, p. 48, ISBN 0906969263.
Collection
Accession number
IS.61:44-1977

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Record createdNovember 18, 2013
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