Painting thumbnail 1
Painting thumbnail 2
Not on display

Painting

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

This painting is the right side of a double-page composition from the Akbarnama (Book of Akbar). The left side is Museum no. IS.2:112-1896. The general Husain Quli Khan Jahan is depicted here presenting prisoners to the Mughal emperor Akbar (r.1556–1605) in 1572, after the victorious military campaign in Gujarat, north-western India. The conquest of Gujarat, an area with many ports that dominated India’s trade with western Asia, was of immense strategic importance in the military campaigns of the early part of Akbar’s reign.

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.

Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Painted in opaque watercolour and gold on paper
Brief description
Painting, Akbarnama, Husain Quli Khan Jahan paying respects to Akbar, outline and painting by Husain Naqqash, portraits by Kesu, opaque watercolour and gold on paper, Mughal, ca. 1590-95
Physical description
Painting, in opaque watercolour and gold on paper, right hand side of double picture, the left hand being IS.2:112-1896. Depicts Husain Quli Khan Jahan paying his respects to Akbar while presenting prisoners of war from Gujarat. An assembly of courtiers is shown facing Akbar who appears from a balcony window.
Dimensions
  • Height: 32.8cm
  • Width: 19.2cm
Content description
Husain Quli Khan Jahan paying his respects to Akbar while presenting prisoners of war from Gujarat. An assembly of courtiers is shown facing Akbar who appears from a balcony window.
Styles
Marks and inscriptions
(The contemporary attribution to Husain Naqqash and Kesav is written in Persian in red ink is in the margin below the picture. The other side (IS.2:112-1896) has an inscription attributing the overall composition to Basawan.)
Translation
'painted by Husain Naqqash faces by Kesav'
Transliteration
'amal Husain Naqqash/chehreh nami Kesav'
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
Production
Composition probably by Basawan, painting by Husain Naqqash, portraits by Kesav
Subjects depicted
Association
Literary referenceAkbarnama
Summary
This painting is the right side of a double-page composition from the Akbarnama (Book of Akbar). The left side is Museum no. IS.2:112-1896. The general Husain Quli Khan Jahan is depicted here presenting prisoners to the Mughal emperor Akbar (r.1556–1605) in 1572, after the victorious military campaign in Gujarat, north-western India. The conquest of Gujarat, an area with many ports that dominated India’s trade with western Asia, was of immense strategic importance in the military campaigns of the early part of Akbar’s reign.

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.
Associated object
Bibliographic references
  • Asok Kumar Das, Dawn of Mughal Painting, Bombay 1982, pl. XII, p. 32 Susan Stronge, "The Akbarnama and Mughal Court Culture", in Gian Carlo Calza, ed., Akbar. The Great Emperor of India, Fondazione Roma, 2012, fig. 6b, p. 23
  • Susan Stronge, Made for Mughal emperors, Roli Books, 2010, pl. 16, p. 36
  • Stronge, S. Made for Mughal Emperors. Royal Treasures from Hindustan. London and New York, 2010 p. 36, pl. 16
  • Bor, J. and Bruguiere, P. Gloire des Princes: Louange des Dieux, Musee de la Musique, 2003. p. 60, ill. no. 9
  • Ayers, J. Oriental Art in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London 1983, ISBN 0-85667-120-7 p. 68
Other number
186 - inscription/original number
Collection
Accession number
IS.2:113-1896

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Record createdNovember 16, 1998
Record URL
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