Umar and his friends set Hamza free
Painting
ca.1562-1577 (made)
ca.1562-1577 (made)
The Hamzanama, or 'Book of Hamza' was commissioned by the great Mughal emperor Akbar in the mid-16th century. The epic story of a character based very loosely on the life of the uncle of the Prophet Muhammad chronicles the fantastic adventures of Hamza as he and his band of heroes fight against the enemies of Islam. The stories, from a long-established oral tradition, were written down in Persian, the language of the court, in multiple volumes. These originally had 1400 illustrations, of which fewer than 200 survive today. Work probably began in about 1562 and took 15 years to complete.
This page is said to depict the rescue of the captive Hamza. All the faces of living beings have been deliberately obliterated, probably in the 19th century.
This page is said to depict the rescue of the captive Hamza. All the faces of living beings have been deliberately obliterated, probably in the 19th century.
Object details
| Object type | |
| Title | Umar and his friends set Hamza free (generic title) |
| Materials and techniques | Gouache on prepared cotton backed with paper; the reverse text written on paper backed with cotton; the folio therefore has 4 layers glued together |
| Brief description | Umar and his friends set Hamza free. Hamzanama 1562-77. |
| Physical description | A tall structure on four slender columns hung with bells forms the prison, and a kneeling figure is trapped at the top, tied up with ropes to a rectangular platform. The structure is within a circular brick built enclosure, seen from above though the platform is shown from the side. Outside, royal standards follow a procession of elephants and horsemen. The faces of all the living beings have been deliberately smeared, and there is some crude repainting of human features. |
| Dimensions |
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| Style | |
| Marks and inscriptions | (text number 25.) |
| Object history | bought for the museum by Caspar Purdon Clarke in Srinagar in 1881. |
| Historical context | The Hamzanama, or 'Book of Hamza' was commissioned by the great Mughal emperor Akbar in the mid-16th century. The epic story of a character based very loosely on the life of the uncle of the Prophet Muhammad chronicles the fantastic adventures of Hamza as he and his band of heroes fight against the enemies of Islam. The stories, from a long-established oral tradition, were written down in Persian, the language of the court, in multiple volumes. These originally had 1400 illustrations, of which fewer than 200 survive today. Work probably began in about 1562 and took 15 years to complete. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | The Hamzanama, or 'Book of Hamza' was commissioned by the great Mughal emperor Akbar in the mid-16th century. The epic story of a character based very loosely on the life of the uncle of the Prophet Muhammad chronicles the fantastic adventures of Hamza as he and his band of heroes fight against the enemies of Islam. The stories, from a long-established oral tradition, were written down in Persian, the language of the court, in multiple volumes. These originally had 1400 illustrations, of which fewer than 200 survive today. Work probably began in about 1562 and took 15 years to complete. This page is said to depict the rescue of the captive Hamza. All the faces of living beings have been deliberately obliterated, probably in the 19th century. |
| Bibliographic reference | C. Stanley Clarke. Indian Drawings. Twelve Mogul Paintings of the School of Humayun (16th century) illustrating the Romance of Amir Hamzah. Victoria and Albert Museum Portfolios, London, 1921.
Seyller, John. The Adventures of Hamza. Smithsonian Institution. 2002, cat. R142, pp. 274-275. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | IS.1507-1883 |
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| Record created | July 8, 2002 |
| Record URL |
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