Akbar and Azim Khan at Dipalpur thumbnail 1
Not currently on display at the V&A

Akbar and Azim Khan at Dipalpur

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

This is the left side of a double-page image from the Akbarnama depicting Akbar being entertained by his foster brother Azim Khan at Dipalpur in the Panjab in 1571. This side shows attendants with horses and gifts, a trained hunting cheetah, a falconer and elephants. Akbar himself is depicted on the right-hand page, IS.2:94-1896.

The Akbarnama 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 about 1592 and 1594 by at least 49 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 John Clarke, who bought it in India while serving as Commissioner of Oudh between 1858 and 1862.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleAkbar and Azim Khan at Dipalpur (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Painted in opaque watercolour and gold on paper
Brief description
Painting, Akbarnama, Akbar entertained by Azim Khan at Dipalpur, outline by Jagan, painting by Asir, opaque watercolour and gold on paper, Mughal, ca. 1586-1589
Physical description
Painting, in opaque watercolour and gold on paper, the left side of a double picture showing Akbar being entertained by his foster brother Azim Khan at Dipalpur in the Panjab in 1571. This side depicts attendants with horses and gifts, a trained hunting cheetah and falcon and servants carrying a throne inside the tented enclosure, and elephants and their riders outside, at top left.
This is on the same folio as IS.2:92-1896.
Dimensions
  • Painting height: 32.4cm
  • Painting width: 18.6cm
Content description
Akbar being entertained by his foster brother Azim Khan at Dipalpur in the Panjab in 1571. This side depicts attendants with horses and gifts, a trained hunting cheetah and falcon and servants carrying a throne inside the tented enclosure, and elephants and their riders outside, at top left.
Styles
Marks and inscriptions
(These are attributions in Persian, written in red ink at the bottom of the page, by a contemporary librarian.)
Translation
'Composition by Jagan/Work [ie painting] by Surdas/Faces by Madhav'
Transliteration
'Tarh Jagan/amal Surdas/chehra nami Madhav'
Credit line
Purchased from Mrs. Clarke, The Dingle, Sydenham Hill, S. E
Object history
The Akbarnama 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 the manuscript in 1896 from Mrs Frances Clarke, the widow of Major-General John Clarke, who had bought it while serving as Commissioner of Oudh, India, between 1858 and 1862.

Historical significance: This 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 third book of the Akbarnama.
Production
Composition by Jagan, painting by Asir.
Attribution place is likely to be Delhi, Agra or Fatehpur Sikri.
Subjects depicted
Association
Literary referenceAkbarnama
Summary
This is the left side of a double-page image from the Akbarnama depicting Akbar being entertained by his foster brother Azim Khan at Dipalpur in the Panjab in 1571. This side shows attendants with horses and gifts, a trained hunting cheetah, a falconer and elephants. Akbar himself is depicted on the right-hand page, IS.2:94-1896.

The Akbarnama 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 about 1592 and 1594 by at least 49 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 John Clarke, who bought it in India while serving as Commissioner of Oudh between 1858 and 1862.
Associated objects
Bibliographic reference
India's fabled city : the art of courtly Lucknow / Stephen Markel with Tushara Bindu Gude ; and contributions by Muzaffar Alam ... [et al.]. Munich ;London: Prestel, Johann Gottlieb, c2010 Number: 9783791350752 (hbk.), 3791350757 (hbk.) cat. no. 8, p. 75. Ahsan Jan Qaisar. Building Construction in Mughal India. The Evidence from Painting. Aligarh Muslim University/Oxford University Press, Delhi, 1988, plate 7.
Other number
172 - inscription/original number
Collection
Accession number
IS.2:95-1896

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Record createdNovember 5, 1998
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