PROVINCIAL MUGHAL INDIA, LATE 18TH CENTURY

Mullah Dopiyaza was a character from a sequence of folk tales from Northern India including the Mughal emperor Akbar and his humorous courtier Birbal. He was portrayed as an entertaining and witty man, who was one of Akbar’s chief advisors and a rival of Birbal. Although the stories about Mullah Dopiyaza date from the end of Akbar's reign (1556–1605), this character continued to appear at later dates and became well known by writers in the late 19th century. Majority of scholars believe Mullah Dopiyaza to be a completely fictional character. However, scholars such as Hafiz Mahmoud Shirani believe he was in fact a historical personality in the 16th century, whose original name was Abdul Momin. He is believed to have been buried in a tomb situated in Handia, Uttar Pradesh, India.
A similar portrait of this Mullah was sold at Christie’s, New York, 21 March 2008, lot 715.