Painting
1630-1631 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This panel of Persian calligraphy was once part of a Mughal royal album. Inscriptions state that the calligraphy was done in the city of Burhanpur in the hijri year 1040, regnal year 3 (1630-1631). The court was in residence at Burhanpur from February 1630 until March 1632.
Signed pages in other collections demonstrate that the writing was done by the Dara Shokuh, the son of the emperor Shah Jahan (r. 1628-1658). The prince was sixteen when he completed this calligraphy.
On the other side of the page there is a portrait of the Mughal emperor Babur, probably done at the same time. This folio was bought by the museum from an auction at Sotheby's, London, in 1972.
Signed pages in other collections demonstrate that the writing was done by the Dara Shokuh, the son of the emperor Shah Jahan (r. 1628-1658). The prince was sixteen when he completed this calligraphy.
On the other side of the page there is a portrait of the Mughal emperor Babur, probably done at the same time. This folio was bought by the museum from an auction at Sotheby's, London, in 1972.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Painted in ink, opaque water colour and gold on paper |
| Brief description | Painting, album page verso, calligraphy panel, by Dara Shokuh, opaque watercolour on paper, Mughal, dated 1040, regnal year 3 [1630-1631] |
| Physical description | Painting, ink, opaque watercolour and gold on paper, calligraphy. Seven Persian couplets written in Nasta'liq script in irregular panels against a gold ground decorated with birds and plants. Additional inscriptions state that the calligraphy was done in Burhanpur, in 1040, regnal year 3 [1630-1631]. |
| Dimensions |
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| Content description | Calligraphy, seven Persian couplets written in Nastaliq script in irregular panels against a gold ground decorated with birds and plants. |
| Style | |
| Marks and inscriptions |
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| Gallery label |
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| Historical context | Other specimens of the calligraphy of this Mughal prince are listed in Bikrama Jit Hasrat, Dara Shikuh. Life and Works, Calcutta: Visvabharati, 1953, pp. 161-165. A calligraphic page now in the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto (MS 249) is signed 'Muhammad Dara Shokuh' with the same date, 1050/1630-1631, as the V&A folio. |
| Production | In view of the fact that calligraphic specimens mounted on the three surviving pages of this album appear to be the work of Dara Shokuh, it seems probable that this was his personal muraqqa. The present specimen was written at Burhanpur when the court was there between February 1630 and March 1632, and at the time of writing it Dara Shokuh was in his 16th or 17th year. His father Shah Jahan also produced calligraphic specimens for a personal muraqqa at the same age. Dara was a pupil of Abdur Rashid Dailami and refers to his own calligraphic contributions to a Karnama or Muraqqa in a preface which has been thought to relate to an album in the India Office Library which he gave to his wife in 1051 AH. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | This panel of Persian calligraphy was once part of a Mughal royal album. Inscriptions state that the calligraphy was done in the city of Burhanpur in the hijri year 1040, regnal year 3 (1630-1631). The court was in residence at Burhanpur from February 1630 until March 1632. Signed pages in other collections demonstrate that the writing was done by the Dara Shokuh, the son of the emperor Shah Jahan (r. 1628-1658). The prince was sixteen when he completed this calligraphy. On the other side of the page there is a portrait of the Mughal emperor Babur, probably done at the same time. This folio was bought by the museum from an auction at Sotheby's, London, in 1972. |
| Associated object | IS.37-1972 (Verso) |
| Bibliographic reference | Susan Stronge: Painting for the Mughal Emperor The art of the Book 1560-1660, V &A publication: Page 166, pl. 129 and calligraphy page pl. 130.
J.P. Losty, ‘Dating the Dara Shukuh Album: The Floral Evidence’, in Ebba Koch in collaboration with Ali Anooshahr, eds, The Mughal Empire from Jahangir to Shah Jahan. Art, Architecture, Politics, Law and Literature, Marg Publications, Mumbai 2019, pp 246-287. See Plate 1, p. 249. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | IS.37/2-1972 |
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| Record created | September 17, 2013 |
| Record URL |
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