.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
The Zafarnama of Yazdi, is the history or 'Book of Victory' of Timur and Khalil Sultan. Commissioned by Timur's grandson Ibrahim Sultan ibn Shahrukh, the governor of Shiraz, the text, in ornate prose, was completed by Sharaf al-Din 'Ali Yazdi in AH 828/1424-25 AD. It was much acclaimed in Iran, and by 1595 a copy - illustrated with twelve paintings by the master Bihzad - had been acquired by the Mughal court. The now dispersed manuscript from which these three miniatures come, was ordered for the library of the Emperor Akbar, probably between 1595 and 1600 AD. The illustrations to the manuscript were done in the Imperial Mughal atelier by some of the Emperor's top artists in the refined style characteristic of Akbar's later years. Until the emergence of this dispersed manuscript, the only known Mughal copy of the text was one completed in July 1600 - illustrated in the sub-imperial Mughal style, probably for Mirza 'Aziz Koka, the governor of Ahmadabad. Seyller argues that because patrons of this class typically emulated imperial taste in books and painting, this date strongly suggests that our dispersed manuscript was produced earlier - a supposition corroborated by the roll of painters involved in its illustration (John Seyller and Konrad Seitz, Mughal and Deccani Paintings, exhibition catalogue, Zurich, 2010, p.42).
Nand Gwaliori began his career on the 1584 Timurnama. He is identified in the Victoria and Albert Akbarnama as both from Gwalior and as the son of Ram Das, a minor Akbari painter who in fact worked alongside Nand Gwaliori on a number of manuscripts. He worked on a 'Iyar-I Danish in the Chester Beatty collection and also contributed to manuscripts such as the Victoria and Albert Akbarnama and the 1595 British Library Khamsa of Nizami (Linda York Leach, Mughal and Other Indian Paintings from the Chester Beatty Library, vol.II, Dublin, 1995, p.1114).
For a list of other known folios from this copy of the Zafarnama, see the note accompanying lot 32.
Nand Gwaliori began his career on the 1584 Timurnama. He is identified in the Victoria and Albert Akbarnama as both from Gwalior and as the son of Ram Das, a minor Akbari painter who in fact worked alongside Nand Gwaliori on a number of manuscripts. He worked on a 'Iyar-I Danish in the Chester Beatty collection and also contributed to manuscripts such as the Victoria and Albert Akbarnama and the 1595 British Library Khamsa of Nizami (Linda York Leach, Mughal and Other Indian Paintings from the Chester Beatty Library, vol.II, Dublin, 1995, p.1114).
For a list of other known folios from this copy of the Zafarnama, see the note accompanying lot 32.