-
Ali Quli Khan
Kanha - Enlarge image
Ali Quli Khan
- Object:
Painting
- Place of origin:
Mughal Empire (made)
- Date:
ca. 1590-95 (made)
- Artist/Maker:
Kanha (maker)
Khiman Sangtarash (maker) - Materials and Techniques:
Painted in opaque watercolour and gold on paper
- Museum number:
IS.2:12-1896
- Gallery location:
In Storage
This painting and IS.2:13-1896 together form a complete composition across two pages. They illustrate an episode described in the Akbarnama, the history of the reign of the Mughal emperor Akbar (r. 1556-1605). The composition was designed by the court artist Kanha, with a second artist, Khiman Sangtarash, being responsible for the painting. The scene depicts the victory of Khan Zaman (Ali Quli Khan) over the Afghans on the banks of the river Jumna in 1561.
The Akbarnama (Book of Akbar) was commissioned by the emperor as the official chronicle of his reign. It was written in Persian 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, this manuscript remained in the library of his son, Jahangir (r. 1605-27) and later Shah Jahan (r. 1628-58). 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 of Oudh province between 1858 and 1862. It is thought to be the earliest illustrated copy of the Akbarnama and drew upon the expertise of some of the best royal painters of the time, many of whom receive special mention by Abu'l Fazl in the third volume of the Akbarnama, the A'in-i-Akbari. The inscriptions in red ink on the bottom of the paintings name the artists.
