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Akbar receives the boy Abdu'r Rahim at court
Anant - Enlarge image
Akbar receives the boy Abdu'r Rahim at court
- Object:
Painting
- Place of origin:
India (possibly, made)
Pakistan (possibly, made) - Date:
ca. 1590-1595 (made)
- Artist/Maker:
Anant (artist)
- Materials and Techniques:
Opaque watercolour and gold on paper
- Museum number:
IS.2:7-1896
- Gallery location:
In Storage
This illustration by Anant depicts Akbar receiving Abdu'r Rahim, the four-year old son of Bairam Khan, at court, following his father's assassination. The child is helped onto the dais by another man, who has been identified tentatively as Ataga Khan.
The Akbarnama (Book of Akbar) was commissioned by the emperor Akbar as the official chronicle of his reign. It was written by his court historian and biographer Abu'l Fazl between 1590 and 1596 and is thought to have been illustrated between c. 1592 and 1594 by at least forty-nine different artists from Akbar's studio. After Akbar's death in 1605, the manuscript remained in the library of his son, Jahangir (r. 1605-1627) and later Shah Jahan (r. 1628-1658). The Victoria and Albert Museum purchased it in 1896 from Mrs Frances Clarke, the widow of Major General Clarke, an official who had been the Commissioner in Oudh province between 1858 and 1862.
