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Lot Essay
This painting, from a dispersed Mughal manuscript, is one of a number that were mounted on folios from the Farhang-i Jahangiri of 1608. The main figure, dressed in an orange jama, in the top left corner of the painting appears to be distributing melons from a tray being offered to him. It has been suggested that the figure, who bears some resemblance to the Emperor Babur, is possibly Qabal Khan. Qabal Khan, the sixth son of Tumanba Khan, was an ancestor of Genghis Khan and the Mughal rulers. With the intention of establishing the Mughal Empire in the annals of world history, Akbar is known to have commissioned several historical manuscripts such as the Chingiznama (book of Genghis Khan) which illustrates the life of Genghis Khan and his family. A late sixteenth century painting from the Chingiznama by the artists Basawan and Bhim Gujarati depicting Tumanba Khan, his wife and nine sons (including Qabal Khan) is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (acc.no.48.144; Maryam D. Ekhtiar et al. (ed.), Masterpieces from the Department of Islamic Art in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2011, no.246, pp.351-352).
Qabal Khan is also discussed early in the text of Abu’l Fazl’s Akbarnama. The figures and composition of our painting can be compared with several folios from the 1597 Akbarnama which has been divided between the British Library in London and the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin. Volume I of the 1597 Akbarnama, which deals mainly with Akbar’s ancestors, is in the British Library (BL Or. 12988). For further discussion on the 1597 Akbarnama, see lot 183 in the sale. Our painting possibly relates to volume I of British Library Akbarnama. Comprising 163 folios with 39 illustrations, the British Library volume has a lacuna at f. 30/31 where there are two missing illustrations (AN 1:186). Our previously unrecorded painting could perhaps be one of the missing illustrations.
Although the painting does not bear a signature, it has been attributed to the artists Mukund and Madhu. This type of collaborative work occurs regularly in the Akbarnama. The portrait of the central figure, Qabal Khan, appears to be by the hand of Madhu, who was known as a talented portraitist. Mukund is probably responsible for painting the greybeard guard by the gate. Some of the other courtiers and attendants also exhibit the head shape and facial structure of Mukund’s figures. Our figures also find comparison with a folio in the Chester Beatty Library Akbarnama (Ms. 3), f.202b, ascribed to Mukund. The elephant on the podium and the architecture of the fortress can also be compared to other ascribed works by Mukund, (Chester Beatty Library Akbarnama, f.155b; British Library Khamsa of Nizami, f.318b). For a note on the artists and a list of additional paintings attributed to Madhu and Mukund, see Linda York Leach, Mughal and other Indian Paintings from the Chester Beatty Library, Vol. II, Dublin, 1995, pp.1109-1110, 1113-1114.
We would like to thank John Seyller for his assistance with cataloguing this lot.
Qabal Khan is also discussed early in the text of Abu’l Fazl’s Akbarnama. The figures and composition of our painting can be compared with several folios from the 1597 Akbarnama which has been divided between the British Library in London and the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin. Volume I of the 1597 Akbarnama, which deals mainly with Akbar’s ancestors, is in the British Library (BL Or. 12988). For further discussion on the 1597 Akbarnama, see lot 183 in the sale. Our painting possibly relates to volume I of British Library Akbarnama. Comprising 163 folios with 39 illustrations, the British Library volume has a lacuna at f. 30/31 where there are two missing illustrations (AN 1:186). Our previously unrecorded painting could perhaps be one of the missing illustrations.
Although the painting does not bear a signature, it has been attributed to the artists Mukund and Madhu. This type of collaborative work occurs regularly in the Akbarnama. The portrait of the central figure, Qabal Khan, appears to be by the hand of Madhu, who was known as a talented portraitist. Mukund is probably responsible for painting the greybeard guard by the gate. Some of the other courtiers and attendants also exhibit the head shape and facial structure of Mukund’s figures. Our figures also find comparison with a folio in the Chester Beatty Library Akbarnama (Ms. 3), f.202b, ascribed to Mukund. The elephant on the podium and the architecture of the fortress can also be compared to other ascribed works by Mukund, (Chester Beatty Library Akbarnama, f.155b; British Library Khamsa of Nizami, f.318b). For a note on the artists and a list of additional paintings attributed to Madhu and Mukund, see Linda York Leach, Mughal and other Indian Paintings from the Chester Beatty Library, Vol. II, Dublin, 1995, pp.1109-1110, 1113-1114.
We would like to thank John Seyller for his assistance with cataloguing this lot.