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Lot Essay
The Razmnama is the abridged version of the Hindu epic, the Mahabharata, which tells the story of the rivalry between cousins, the Pandavas and the Kauravas, over the kingdom of Hastinapura. A central figure is the god Krishna, who assists the Pandava brothers.
The Mughal Emperor Akbar commissioned a Persian translation of the Sanskrit epic, the Mahabharata, in 1582-83 which was not completed until 1586. It became known by its Persian title Razmnama (Book of War). This imperial illustrated manuscript with 168 paintings is now in the Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II Museum in Jaipur.
This illustration comes from the second illustrated copy of the Razmnama which was completed between 1598 and 1599. The complete manuscript, originally in the collection of Gerald Reitlinger, was sold at Sotheby’s London on 24th and 25th October 1921. The final five parts including the colophon are preserved in the British Library. The 161 known miniatures from this manuscript are now in private and public collections including the Free Library of Philadephia, the Chester Beatty Library, the India Office Library and the Keir Collection.
The illustrations to this manuscript bear the names of important artists who were working for Akbar, providing evidence that it is very likely that the manuscript was in fact painted in the royal atelier, probably as a gift for a member of the royal family. (Yael Rice, “A Persian Mahabharata: The 1598-99 Razmnama,” Manoa 22/1 (2010), pg. 126)
Our painting has been attributed to the artist Bilal Habshi, who was an Ethiopian artist working in the Mughal atelier at the time. The painting depicts the battle of the warriors Dhrishtadyumna and Aswatthama. Dhristadyumna was the commander of the Pandava army, and the brother of Draupadi who was married to the five Pandava brothers. During the Kurukshetra war, Dronacharya who was a guru to both sides, the Pandavas and the Kauravas, laid down his arms and sat in meditation. Dronacharya had once humiliated Dhristadyumna's father in battle. Seizing this opportunity, Dhristadyumna beheaded the meditating guru. On the eighteenth night of the war, blinded with rage, the son of Dronacharya, Aswatthama attacked the Pandava camp in the dark and killed Dhrishtadyumna by smothering him to death, the scene not quite as gallant as illustrated in the painting.
There is another known illustration from this manuscript which bears an attribution to Bilal Habshi, now in the Cleveland Museum of Art (2013.305). It depicts an earlier episode from the Mahabharata relating to the birth of Dhristadyumna and his sister Draupadi.
For a detailed discussion of the 1598 Razmnama, see J. Seyller, “Model and Copy: the Illustration of Three Razmnama Manuscripts”, Archives of Art, vol. XXXVIII, 1985, pp.37-66 and J. Seyller, Workshop + Patron in Mughal India, Zurich, 1999, pp.24-27.
An illustration from this manuscript sold in Christie’s, London, 26 April 2012, lot 7.
The Mughal Emperor Akbar commissioned a Persian translation of the Sanskrit epic, the Mahabharata, in 1582-83 which was not completed until 1586. It became known by its Persian title Razmnama (Book of War). This imperial illustrated manuscript with 168 paintings is now in the Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II Museum in Jaipur.
This illustration comes from the second illustrated copy of the Razmnama which was completed between 1598 and 1599. The complete manuscript, originally in the collection of Gerald Reitlinger, was sold at Sotheby’s London on 24th and 25th October 1921. The final five parts including the colophon are preserved in the British Library. The 161 known miniatures from this manuscript are now in private and public collections including the Free Library of Philadephia, the Chester Beatty Library, the India Office Library and the Keir Collection.
The illustrations to this manuscript bear the names of important artists who were working for Akbar, providing evidence that it is very likely that the manuscript was in fact painted in the royal atelier, probably as a gift for a member of the royal family. (Yael Rice, “A Persian Mahabharata: The 1598-99 Razmnama,” Manoa 22/1 (2010), pg. 126)
Our painting has been attributed to the artist Bilal Habshi, who was an Ethiopian artist working in the Mughal atelier at the time. The painting depicts the battle of the warriors Dhrishtadyumna and Aswatthama. Dhristadyumna was the commander of the Pandava army, and the brother of Draupadi who was married to the five Pandava brothers. During the Kurukshetra war, Dronacharya who was a guru to both sides, the Pandavas and the Kauravas, laid down his arms and sat in meditation. Dronacharya had once humiliated Dhristadyumna's father in battle. Seizing this opportunity, Dhristadyumna beheaded the meditating guru. On the eighteenth night of the war, blinded with rage, the son of Dronacharya, Aswatthama attacked the Pandava camp in the dark and killed Dhrishtadyumna by smothering him to death, the scene not quite as gallant as illustrated in the painting.
There is another known illustration from this manuscript which bears an attribution to Bilal Habshi, now in the Cleveland Museum of Art (2013.305). It depicts an earlier episode from the Mahabharata relating to the birth of Dhristadyumna and his sister Draupadi.
For a detailed discussion of the 1598 Razmnama, see J. Seyller, “Model and Copy: the Illustration of Three Razmnama Manuscripts”, Archives of Art, vol. XXXVIII, 1985, pp.37-66 and J. Seyller, Workshop + Patron in Mughal India, Zurich, 1999, pp.24-27.
An illustration from this manuscript sold in Christie’s, London, 26 April 2012, lot 7.