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Lot Essay
Until recently only two royal copies of the Akbarnama were known. The 'first' is the copy of 1590-95 commissioned by the Emperor Akbar (r. 1556-1605), the majority of which is now in the Victoria & Albert Museum, London (IS.2-1896). For a further discussion of the 'first' Akbarnama please see the preceding lot. The 'second' is a dispersed manuscript dated to 1603-05 which is now split between the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin and the British Library. The present lot belongs to the 'third' Akbarnama which had not received any great attention until it was addressed in an essay by Linda York Leach in 2004 ('Pages from an Akbarnama' in Rosemary Crill, Susan Stronge and Andrew Topsfield, Studies in Honour of Robert Skelton, London, 2004, pp. 45-55).
Leach convincingly argues that the 'third' Akbarnama was commissioned by and made for Hamida Banu Begum, Akbar's mother. The main arguments given for this are that the manuscript is written in naskh rather than nasta'liq, which was seemingly preferred by Hamida Banu Begum, that the illustrations give unusual attention to the depictions of royal ladies and the activities of the zenana, and finally that the illustrations give unusual attention to the exploits of Humayun, the husband of the Hamida Banu Begum (Leach, op.cit., p.44-47). The present illustration plays to this third argument. The story of Humayun is given relatively little attention in Abu'l Fazl's text of the Akbarnama which is perhaps unsurprising given his troubled life. However, in the 'third' Akbarnama Humayun (r.1530-40 and 1555-56) is elevated to the heroic and commanding status expected for a Mughal ruler. In the present lot the youthful looking Emperor rides a brightly painted and richly caparisoned horse, physically elevated from those around him. Against the backdrop of a breached castle, triumphant Mughal soldiers bring bound prisoners before the Emperor Humayun. The defeated Qaracha Khan, the former Mughal governor of Kandahar turned traitor, looks up at the Emperor to beg forgiveness. The depiction of this scene would seem to be unique amongst the three royal Akbarnamas but we know that Qaracha Khan was not forgiven and an illustration from the 'first' Akbarnama in the Philadelphia Museum of Art shows the Emperor receiving the head of his former vizier (1947-49-1).
This brightly painted and dynamic illustration is typical of the other known paintings from the manuscript. In style, this places it closer to the 'first' Akbarnama and Leach goes on to suggest that the 'third' Akbarnama can be dated from 1595-1600 (Leach, op.cit., p.43). The manuscript appears to have been broken and remargined perhaps around the 18th century and other than where text appears in panels within the illustrations, only the paintings remain. Each has been remargined and annotations in black nasta'liq in the borders identify the scenes and, at times, the artists. This illustration is attributed to the artist Kanha (Kanhar) who worked in Akbar's atelier through the 1580s and 1590s. He worked on Akbar's Baburnama (see Smithsonian Museum, F1954.29) and the 'first' Akbarnama (Victoria & Albert Museum 6, IS.2:57-1896, IS.2:13-1896, IS.2:97-1896 and IS.2:64-1896). An illustration to the Razmnama of 1598-99 by Kanha was sold in Sotheby's London, 9 October 2013, lot 216.
Six folios from the 'third' Akbarnama are illustrated in Leach's article. Another five with Simon Ray (Indian and Islamic Worlds of Art, London, 2018, nos. 2-6). Further illustrations are in the Cleveland Museum of Art (2013.308) and Khalili Collection (Leach, op.cit., 1998, no.10). For illustrations sold at auction three were sold at Sotheby's London, 3 May 2001, lot 73; 18 October 2001, lot 67 and 6 September 2023, lot 17.
Leach convincingly argues that the 'third' Akbarnama was commissioned by and made for Hamida Banu Begum, Akbar's mother. The main arguments given for this are that the manuscript is written in naskh rather than nasta'liq, which was seemingly preferred by Hamida Banu Begum, that the illustrations give unusual attention to the depictions of royal ladies and the activities of the zenana, and finally that the illustrations give unusual attention to the exploits of Humayun, the husband of the Hamida Banu Begum (Leach, op.cit., p.44-47). The present illustration plays to this third argument. The story of Humayun is given relatively little attention in Abu'l Fazl's text of the Akbarnama which is perhaps unsurprising given his troubled life. However, in the 'third' Akbarnama Humayun (r.1530-40 and 1555-56) is elevated to the heroic and commanding status expected for a Mughal ruler. In the present lot the youthful looking Emperor rides a brightly painted and richly caparisoned horse, physically elevated from those around him. Against the backdrop of a breached castle, triumphant Mughal soldiers bring bound prisoners before the Emperor Humayun. The defeated Qaracha Khan, the former Mughal governor of Kandahar turned traitor, looks up at the Emperor to beg forgiveness. The depiction of this scene would seem to be unique amongst the three royal Akbarnamas but we know that Qaracha Khan was not forgiven and an illustration from the 'first' Akbarnama in the Philadelphia Museum of Art shows the Emperor receiving the head of his former vizier (1947-49-1).
This brightly painted and dynamic illustration is typical of the other known paintings from the manuscript. In style, this places it closer to the 'first' Akbarnama and Leach goes on to suggest that the 'third' Akbarnama can be dated from 1595-1600 (Leach, op.cit., p.43). The manuscript appears to have been broken and remargined perhaps around the 18th century and other than where text appears in panels within the illustrations, only the paintings remain. Each has been remargined and annotations in black nasta'liq in the borders identify the scenes and, at times, the artists. This illustration is attributed to the artist Kanha (Kanhar) who worked in Akbar's atelier through the 1580s and 1590s. He worked on Akbar's Baburnama (see Smithsonian Museum, F1954.29) and the 'first' Akbarnama (Victoria & Albert Museum 6, IS.2:57-1896, IS.2:13-1896, IS.2:97-1896 and IS.2:64-1896). An illustration to the Razmnama of 1598-99 by Kanha was sold in Sotheby's London, 9 October 2013, lot 216.
Six folios from the 'third' Akbarnama are illustrated in Leach's article. Another five with Simon Ray (Indian and Islamic Worlds of Art, London, 2018, nos. 2-6). Further illustrations are in the Cleveland Museum of Art (2013.308) and Khalili Collection (Leach, op.cit., 1998, no.10). For illustrations sold at auction three were sold at Sotheby's London, 3 May 2001, lot 73; 18 October 2001, lot 67 and 6 September 2023, lot 17.