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Lot Essay
Muhammad Azam Shah (1653-1707 AD) was the third and favourite son of Awrengzeb. He briefly seized the throne when his father died and was crowned on 4 March 1707 in the Deccan. He was killed the same year by his brother Bahadur Shah.
Prince Azam Shah appears on a portrait with his father painted circa 1668 when the young prince was fifteen (Linda York Leach, Mughal and Other Indian Paintings from the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin, 1995, p.489, cat.4.6). A brush drawing of a young bearded prince holding a ruby in the Chester Beatty Library is likely to be a portrait of the prince, painted circa 1670-80 and another depiction of Azam Shah at a fairly advanced age, kneeling near his enthroned father, is attributed to Bhawani Das and painted circa 1707-12 (L.Y. Leach, op.cit., p.495, cat.4.14 and p.480-89, cat.4.7).
A miniature depicting Farrukh-Siyar riding his elephant shares common stylistic features with the present portrait in the depiction of the faces and in the ornamentation. Collected by Colonel Jean-Baptiste Gentil and now in the Bibliothèque Nationale, the page is dated circa 1715 (A la cour du Grand Moghol, exhibition catalogue, Paris, 1986, cat.50, p.81).
Prince Azam Shah appears on a portrait with his father painted circa 1668 when the young prince was fifteen (Linda York Leach, Mughal and Other Indian Paintings from the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin, 1995, p.489, cat.4.6). A brush drawing of a young bearded prince holding a ruby in the Chester Beatty Library is likely to be a portrait of the prince, painted circa 1670-80 and another depiction of Azam Shah at a fairly advanced age, kneeling near his enthroned father, is attributed to Bhawani Das and painted circa 1707-12 (L.Y. Leach, op.cit., p.495, cat.4.14 and p.480-89, cat.4.7).
A miniature depicting Farrukh-Siyar riding his elephant shares common stylistic features with the present portrait in the depiction of the faces and in the ornamentation. Collected by Colonel Jean-Baptiste Gentil and now in the Bibliothèque Nationale, the page is dated circa 1715 (A la cour du Grand Moghol, exhibition catalogue, Paris, 1986, cat.50, p.81).