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Akbar

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

This painting by the Mughal court artists La’l and Sanwala depicts the Mughal emperor Akbar (r.1556–1605) hunting for black buck using his trained cheetahs in 1572. It is an illustration to the Akbarnama (Book of Akbar), commissioned by Akbar as the official chronicle of his reign in 1589,with paintings probably done between 1592 and 1595. Here, Akbar restrains the horse he would have chosen to ride in order to be able to follow the hunt swiftly. The cheetah has been released from the empty bullock cart in the foreground and now brings down a fully grown male blackbuck. A second cheetah is still blindfolded and held by its keeper in the upper right of the composition. Eight females are included in the painting, with two other cheetahs identified by the naturalist Divyabhanusinh as 'sub-adult males' from their barely black appearance.

The Akbarnama was written in Persian by Akbar’s court historian and biographer, Abu’l Fazl, between 1590 and 1596, with the illustrations being produced concurrently. The V&A’s partial copy of the manuscript is thought to be the first of several contemporary manuscripts of the text. It drew upon the expertise of the best royal artists of the time. Many of these are listed by Abu’l Fazl in the third volume of theAkbarnama, entitled 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 the death of the emperor, the manuscript remained in the library of his son Jahangir, from whom it was subsequently 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
TitleAkbar (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Painted in opaque watercolour and gold on paper
Brief description
Painting, Akbarnama, Akbar hunts with trained cheetahs, outline by La'l, painting by Sanwala, opaque watercolour and gold on paper, Mughal, ca. 1590-95
Physical description
Painting, in opaque watercolour and gold on paper, Akbar hunting black buck with trained cheetahs. IS.2:95-1896 is on the other side of this folio.
Dimensions
  • Folio height: 38.1cm
  • Folio width: 22.4cm
folio size 38.1cm x 22.4cm.
Content description
Akbar hunting black buck with trained cheetah.
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 by La'l/Work [= painting] by Kesav Khord'
Transliteration
'Tarh: La'l/Amal: Kesav Khord'
Credit line
Purchased from Mrs. Clarke, The Dingle, Sydenham Hill, S. E
Object history
The Akbarnama, or "Book of Akbar", was commissioned by the emperor Akbar as the official chronicle of his reign. It was written by 1590 and 1596 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 Mrs. Frances Clarke, the widow of Major General John 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 third volume 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.

Purchased from Mrs. Clarke, The Dingle, Sydenham Hill, S. E. This acquisition information reflects that found in the Museum records (Asia Department registers and/or Central Inventory) as part of a 2023 provenance research project.

Registered Papers: 85488/95
Subjects depicted
Association
Literary referenceAkbarnama
Summary
This painting by the Mughal court artists La’l and Sanwala depicts the Mughal emperor Akbar (r.1556–1605) hunting for black buck using his trained cheetahs in 1572. It is an illustration to the Akbarnama (Book of Akbar), commissioned by Akbar as the official chronicle of his reign in 1589,with paintings probably done between 1592 and 1595. Here, Akbar restrains the horse he would have chosen to ride in order to be able to follow the hunt swiftly. The cheetah has been released from the empty bullock cart in the foreground and now brings down a fully grown male blackbuck. A second cheetah is still blindfolded and held by its keeper in the upper right of the composition. Eight females are included in the painting, with two other cheetahs identified by the naturalist Divyabhanusinh as 'sub-adult males' from their barely black appearance.

The Akbarnama was written in Persian by Akbar’s court historian and biographer, Abu’l Fazl, between 1590 and 1596, with the illustrations being produced concurrently. The V&A’s partial copy of the manuscript is thought to be the first of several contemporary manuscripts of the text. It drew upon the expertise of the best royal artists of the time. Many of these are listed by Abu’l Fazl in the third volume of theAkbarnama, entitled 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 the death of the emperor, the manuscript remained in the library of his son Jahangir, from whom it was subsequently 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
Bibliographic reference
Sen, Geeti. Paintings form the Akbar Nama. 1984. Lustre Press. Page 46. Divyabhanusinh, 'Hunting in Mughal Painting', in Som Prakash Verma, ed., Flora and Fauna in Mughal Art, Marg Publications, Mumbai 1999, 94-108. Divyabhanusinh, The End of a Trail. The Cheetah in India. Oxford India Paperbacks, New Delhi 2002 (second edition), p. 58
Other number
174 - inscription/original number
Collection
Accession number
IS.2:92-1896

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Record createdNovember 19, 1998
Record URL
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