Mirza Ibrahim Husain  thumbnail 1
Not currently on display at the V&A

Mirza Ibrahim Husain

Painting
ca. 1590-95 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This painting is the left side of a double-page composition from the Akbarnama (Book of Akbar). The right side is Museum no. IS.2:104-1896. The composition as a whole was designed by the Mughal court artist Tulsi Kalan, with the painting on this side done by Khem Karan. This page depicts Mirza Ibrahim Husain hunting. Ibraham Husain, like the Mughal emperor Akbar (r.1556–1605), was descended from the great Central Asian ruler Timur, and his family frequently organised rebellions against Mughal rule in South Asia.

The Akbarnama was commissioned by Akbar 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 the V&A’s partial copy of the manuscript is thought to have been illustrated between about 1592 and 1595. This is thought to be the earliest illustrated version of the text, and drew upon the expertise of some of the best royal artists of the time. Many of these are listed by Abu’l Fazl in the third volume of the text, the A’in-i Akbari, and some of these names appear in the V&A illustrations, written in red ink beneath the pictures, showing that this was a royal copy made for Akbar himself. After his death, the manuscript remained in the library of his son Jahangir, from whom it was inherited by Shah Jahan.

The V&A purchased the manuscript in 1896 from Frances Clarke, the widow of Major General John Clarke, who bought it in India while serving as Commissioner of Oudh between 1858 and 1862.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleMirza Ibrahim Husain (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Painted in opaque watercolour and gold on paper
Brief description
Painting, Akbarnama, Mirza Ibrahim Husain hunting, defeat by imperial troops, by Khem Karan, opaque watercolour and gold on paper, Mughal, ca. 1590-95
Physical description
Painting, in opaque watercolour and gold on paper, left side of a double picture, the right side being IS.2:104-1896. Mirza Ibrahim Husain hunting, a band of hunters emerging from a walled city. A band of text overlays the image, extending from the top left hand margin.
Dimensions
  • Folio height: 38.1cm
  • Folio width: 22.4cm
folio size 38.1cm x 22.4cm.
Content description
Mirza Ibrahim Husain hunting, a band of hunters emerging from a walled city.
Styles
Marks and inscriptions
(Contemporary librarian's attribution in Persian written beneath the image at the bottom of the page in red ink.)
Translation
'composition and painting by Khem Karan'
Transliteration
'Tarh wa amal: Khem Karan'
Credit line
Purchased from Mrs. Clarke, The Dingle, Sydenham Hill, S. E
Object history
The Akbarnama was commissioned by the Emperor Akbar as an official chronicle of his reign. It was written by his court historian and biographer Abu'l Fazl around 1590, and illustrated during the same decade by at least forty-nine different artists from Akbar's studio. After Akbar's death, the manuscript remained in the library of his son, Jehangir. The Victoria and Albert Museum purchased it in 1896 from the widow of Major General Clarke, an official who served as the Commissioner in Oudh province.

Historical significance: It is thought to be the first illustrated copy of the Akbarnama. It 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 A'in-i-Akbari. The inscriptions in red ink on the bottom of the paintings name the artists.
Subjects depicted
Association
Literary referenceAkbarnama
Summary
This painting is the left side of a double-page composition from the Akbarnama (Book of Akbar). The right side is Museum no. IS.2:104-1896. The composition as a whole was designed by the Mughal court artist Tulsi Kalan, with the painting on this side done by Khem Karan. This page depicts Mirza Ibrahim Husain hunting. Ibraham Husain, like the Mughal emperor Akbar (r.1556–1605), was descended from the great Central Asian ruler Timur, and his family frequently organised rebellions against Mughal rule in South Asia.

The Akbarnama was commissioned by Akbar 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 the V&A’s partial copy of the manuscript is thought to have been illustrated between about 1592 and 1595. This is thought to be the earliest illustrated version of the text, and drew upon the expertise of some of the best royal artists of the time. Many of these are listed by Abu’l Fazl in the third volume of the text, the A’in-i Akbari, and some of these names appear in the V&A illustrations, written in red ink beneath the pictures, showing that this was a royal copy made for Akbar himself. After his death, the manuscript remained in the library of his son Jahangir, from whom it was inherited by Shah Jahan.

The V&A purchased the manuscript in 1896 from Frances Clarke, the widow of Major General John Clarke, who bought it in India while serving as Commissioner of Oudh between 1858 and 1862.
Associated object
Other number
185 - inscription/original number
Collection
Accession number
IS.2:105-1896

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Record createdNovember 2, 1998
Record URL
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