Akbar
Painting
ca. 1590-95 (made)
ca. 1590-95 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This page from the Akbarnama (Book of Akbar) shows the Mughal emperor Akbar (r.1556–1605) crossing the Ganges River on an elephant on his way to fight the rebellious brothers Khan Zaman and Bahadur Khan. Several mounted elephants are guided by their riders while the horses are led by soldiers. The animals are decorated with gold chains and other jewellery. The royal elephant and the emperor are depicted larger than the rest of the group to emphasise their presence. The emperor, wearing a yellow robe, green sash and brown turban, guides his elephant with a gold goad.
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.
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 | |
| Title | Akbar (generic title) |
| Materials and techniques | Painted in opaque watercolour and gold on paper |
| Brief description | Painting, Akbarnama, Akbar crossing Ganges, by Ikhlas and Madhav, opaque watercolour and gold on paper, Mughal, ca. 1590-95 |
| Physical description | Painted in opaque watercolour and gold on paper, Akbar's imperial army crossing the Ganges astride elephants. Several elephants aligned cross the river under the leadership of the Emperor. |
| Dimensions |
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| Content description | Akbar's imperial army crossing the Ganges astride elephants. Several elephants aligned cross the river under the leadership of the Emperor. |
| Styles | |
| Marks and inscriptions | 'Amal Ikhlas/Nami chehra Madhav' (Contemporary librarian's attribution in Persian written beneath the image at the bottom of the page in red ink.)
|
| 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 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. 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. |
| Production | Outline colours and details painted by Ikhlas, faces by Madhav. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Association | |
| Literary reference | Akbarnama |
| Summary | This page from the Akbarnama (Book of Akbar) shows the Mughal emperor Akbar (r.1556–1605) crossing the Ganges River on an elephant on his way to fight the rebellious brothers Khan Zaman and Bahadur Khan. Several mounted elephants are guided by their riders while the horses are led by soldiers. The animals are decorated with gold chains and other jewellery. The royal elephant and the emperor are depicted larger than the rest of the group to emphasise their presence. The emperor, wearing a yellow robe, green sash and brown turban, guides his elephant with a gold goad. 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. |
| Bibliographic reference | Sen, Geeti, Paintings from the Akbar Nama, Lustre Press, 1984, 110.
Asok Kumar Das, ‘The Elephant in Mughal Painting’ in Som Prakash Verma, ed., Flora and Fauna in Mughal Art, Marg Publications, Bombay, 1999, fig. 5 p. 41. |
| Other number | 145 - inscription/original number |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | IS.2:60-1896 |
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| Record created | November 12, 1998 |
| Record URL |
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