MUGHAL INDIA, LATE 17TH CENTURY

Shah Daula (d.1676) was born to a destitute mother with links to the chiefs of the Gakkhar tribe in Western Punjab. He went on to gain fame and following for his piety and for his contribution to public architecture. He is reputed to have built many mosques, wells and bridges over the course of his life. After his death, a shrine was built to him in Gujrat City, Pakistan. Mothers suffering from infertility prayed to Shah Daula hoping for the “blessings of the Saint” and subsequently devoted their firstborn child to the serve the shrine (Mahomed Latif, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1896).

There are two other miniatures which can be used to confirm that the figure depicted is indeed Shah Daula. The Chester Beatty Library, Dublin, has a portrait from the Late Shah Jahan Album inscribed with the following translation: “A likeness of Shaykh Dawlat, who is in Gujarat, Lahore, done by Devdat” (07B.25b). The artist of our portrait has rendered Shah Daula almost identically with the same posture, beard, patched shawl (signifying his Sufi sage status) and green cap. The colours of the robes are different but it is undeniably the same figure. A second comparative portrait was offered in these Rooms, 2 May 2019, lot 85. However, that portrait strays further from the Late Shah Jahan example with the extended finger clutching a flower and the work less fine.