INDIA, SECOND HALF 15TH CENTURY

This folio is from a rare illustrated copy of the Khusraw-nameh of Farid al-din Attar, which depicts the love of Khusraw, the Shah of Rum, for Gol, the princess of Khuzistan. The manuscript has been previously attributed to Ottoman Turkey and Timurid Iran but there is now a consensus that it was produced in India in the second half of the 15th century. Although the figures are based on contemporary Iranian models, there are various Indian influences visible such as the lush flowering vegetation and the use of naskh script which had been forsaken for nasta’liq in Iran at this time but was still being used in Sultanate India. For a discussion on Indian manuscripts illustrated in a Persian style, see B.W. Robinson, 1991, pp.65-67.

For other folios from this series which have sold in these Rooms, see 13 April 2010, lot 70, 16 October 1980, lot 55; Sotheby’s London, 9 October 2013, lot 211 and 28 April 2004, lot 50.