Painting
ca. 1590-95 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This page of the Akbarnama depicts the 'jauhar', or burning, of the Rajput women following the fall of the fortress of Chitor in 1568. The women perished rather than be captured by the enemy, and it is thought that as many as 300 women died.Akbar ordered thousands of Rajput men to be killed after the Mughal victory in retaliation for their fierce resistance.
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.
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 | |
| Materials and techniques | Painted in opaque watercolour and gold on paper |
| Brief description | Painting, Akbarnama, burning of the Rajput women, opaque watercolour and gold on paper, Mughal, ca. 1590-95 |
| Physical description | Painting, in opaque watercolour and gold on paper, the Jauhar, or the burning of the Rajput women during the siege of the fortress of Chitor in 1568. The royal Mughal tents, identifiable by their red colour, are at lower left of the composition, behind the firing lines of the Mughal cannon. Above a blank text panel, at top right, the women of the fort are about to be consumed by flames which spurt out into the margin of the page. |
| Dimensions |
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| Content description | The Jauhar, or the burning of the Rajput women during the siege of the fortress of Chitor in 1568. The royal Mughal tents, identifiable by their red colour, are at lower left of the composition, behind the firing lines of the Mughal cannon. |
| Styles | |
| Credit line | Purchased from Mrs. Clarke, The Dingle, Sydenham Hill, S. E |
| Object history | The "jauhar" or burning of the Rajput women following the fall of the fortress of Chitor to the Mughal army in 1568. The women were burned to death rather than being captured by the enemy. It is thought that as many as three hundred women died during this event, and Akbar ordered thousands of Rajput men to be killed as a punishment for their resistance. Historical significance: The pages in the V&A are thought to be from 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. The inscriptions in red ink on the bottom of the paintings refer to the artists and indicate that this was a royal copy. |
| Production | The artists are unidentified. The attribution place is likely to be Lahore. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Place depicted | |
| Association | |
| Literary reference | Akbarnama |
| Summary | This page of the Akbarnama depicts the 'jauhar', or burning, of the Rajput women following the fall of the fortress of Chitor in 1568. The women perished rather than be captured by the enemy, and it is thought that as many as 300 women died.Akbar ordered thousands of Rajput men to be killed after the Mughal victory in retaliation for their fierce resistance. 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 | Susan Stronge, Painting for the Mughal Emperor. The Art of the Book 1560-1650, V&a Publications, 2002, pl. 55, p. 85. |
| Other number | 154 - inscription/original number |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | IS.2:69-1896 |
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| Record created | November 11, 1998 |
| Record URL |
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