Painting
ca. 1590-95 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This painting is the right side of a double-page composition by the Mughal court artist La’l from the Akbarnama (Book of Akbar). It depicts wild elephants being driven into the fort at Bayanwan in the province of Narwar in central India, where a tank of water had been dug on the orders of the Mughal emperor Akbar (r.1556–1605). The right side of the composition, Museum no. IS.2:43-1896, illustrates the digging of the tank.
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 | |
| Materials and techniques | Painted in opaque watercolour and gold on paper |
| Brief description | Painting, Akbarnama, captured elephants driven into the Fort of Bayanwan, outline by La'l, painting by Khem, 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.2:43-1896. Depicts captured wild elephants entering a water tank. The huge elephants crowd the upper part of the composition, within pink sandstone walls. |
| Dimensions |
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| Content description | Captured wild elephants entering a water tank. The huge elephants crowd the upper part of the composition, within pink sandstone walls. |
| Styles | |
| Marks and inscriptions | (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 Abu'l Fazl between 1590 and 1595 and is thought to have been illustrated between ca.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 it in 1896 from Francis Clarke, the widow of Major General Clarke, an official who had been the Commissioner in Oudh province 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 composed by La'l, colours and details painted by Khem. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Association | |
| Literary reference | Akbarnama |
| Summary | This painting is the right side of a double-page composition by the Mughal court artist La’l from the Akbarnama (Book of Akbar). It depicts wild elephants being driven into the fort at Bayanwan in the province of Narwar in central India, where a tank of water had been dug on the orders of the Mughal emperor Akbar (r.1556–1605). The right side of the composition, Museum no. IS.2:43-1896, illustrates the digging of the tank. 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 | 125 - inscription/original number |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | IS.2:44-1896 |
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| Record created | November 16, 1998 |
| Record URL |
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