'Abdullah Khan Uzbeg thumbnail 1
'Abdullah Khan Uzbeg thumbnail 2
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'Abdullah Khan Uzbeg

Painting
ca. 1618 (made)
Artist/Maker
Abu'l Hasan (maker)
Place of origin
Mughal Empire (made)

This portrait depicts the Central Asian ruler Abdullah Khan Uzbeg of Bukhara with his falconer. The ascription in the lower border states that it was done by 'Nadir az-Zaman', referring to the leading court artist Abu'l Hasan. The emperor Jahangir (r. 1605-1627) conferred upon the artist the title which means 'Wonder of the Age'. Abu'l Hasan may have adapted this likeness of a man he had never met from an earlier Iranian portrait.
Several versions of the painting are known. This one was mounted within floral borders on one side of a folio for an album, now dispersed, conventionally known as the Minto Album. The other side of the folio (IM.20a-1925) has a panel of illuminated calligraphy with very fine borders decorated with gold painting on an indigo ground.

Object details

Categories
Hunting
Paintings
Portraits
Bonita Trust Indian Paintings Cataloguing Project
Object type
Painting
Title'Abdullah Khan Uzbeg (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Painted in opaque watercolour and gold on paper
Opaque Watercolour
Gold
Paper
Painted
Brief description
Painting, portrait of 'Abdullah Khan Uzbeg hawking, by Abu'l Hasan, opaque watercolour and gold on paper, Mughal, ca. 1618
Physical description
Painting, opaque watercolour and gold on paper, depicting 'Abdullah Khan Uzbek hawking, near Samarkand. Abdullah Khan II of the Shaybanid dynasty ruled Mavera an-Nahr from his capital at Bukhara from 1583-1598. He is attended by a hawker with a hooded bird and on his saddle is a hawker's drum.
Dimensions
  • Height: 28cm
  • Width: 16cm
  • Page height: 38.7cm
  • Page width: 26.9 cm
Content description
'Abdullah Khan Uzbeg hawking near Samarkand.
Style
Mughal
Marks and inscriptions
shabih-e abdullah khan uzbek, amal-e nader az-zaman
Translation
Likeness of Abdullah Khan Uzbek, the work of the Wonder of the Age [ie Abu'l Hasan]
Gallery label
(27/9/2013)
ABDULLAH KHAN UZBEK
Opaque watercolour and gold on paper
Mughal, by Abu’l Hasan
c. 1618, the borders
c. 1650
IM.20-1925
From the Minto Album
Persian inscriptions identify the rider as Abdullah Khan Uzbek, the ruler of Samarqand, and the artist as Nader az-zaman, or ‘Wonder of the Age’. Jahangir gave this title to Abu’l Hasan, one of his two greatest artists. Abdullah Khan Uzbek had never visited the Mughal court, so the artist had to rely on descriptions. The painting was later extended at top and bottom, and given new floral borders for inclusion in an album of Shah Jahan.
Object history
From the Minto album
Production
Likeness of 'Abdullah Khan Uzbeg, work of Nadir uz-Zaman' Mughal
Subjects depicted
Ruler
Hunting
Hawk
Abdullah Khan II
Summary
This portrait depicts the Central Asian ruler Abdullah Khan Uzbeg of Bukhara with his falconer. The ascription in the lower border states that it was done by 'Nadir az-Zaman', referring to the leading court artist Abu'l Hasan. The emperor Jahangir (r. 1605-1627) conferred upon the artist the title which means 'Wonder of the Age'. Abu'l Hasan may have adapted this likeness of a man he had never met from an earlier Iranian portrait.
Several versions of the painting are known. This one was mounted within floral borders on one side of a folio for an album, now dispersed, conventionally known as the Minto Album. The other side of the folio (IM.20a-1925) has a panel of illuminated calligraphy with very fine borders decorated with gold painting on an indigo ground.
Bibliographic references
  • The Indian Heritage. Court life and Arts under Mughal Rule London: The Victoria and Albert Museum, 1982 Number: ISBN 0 906969 26 3 Robert Skelton, Cat. no. 42, p. 37 Other versions, without inscriptions, are in the British Museum (1920,0917,0.13.1) and in the St Petersburg Album ((Von Habsburg et al, The St Petersburg Muraqqa’, ARCH Foundation 1996, Plate 122 (folio 43 recto).
  • STRONGE, Susan. Painting for the Mughal Emperor: The Art of the Book 1560 – 1660 London : V&A Publications, 2002. 192p, ill. ISBN 1 85177 358 4. p. 131, pl.96
  • The Indian Portrait: 1560-1860 London: National Portrait Gallery, 2010 Number: 978 1 85514 409 5 p. 86, cat. no. 19. and p. 171, fig. 1 detail.
  • The art of India and Pakistan, a commemorative catalogue of the exhibition held at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1947-8. Edited by Sir Leigh Ashton. London: Faber and Faber, [1950] p. 154, cat. no. 692
Collection
South & South East Asia Collection
Accession number
IM.20-1925

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Record createdJune 25, 2009
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O405631/abdullah-khan-uzbeg-painting-abul-hasan/
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