MUGHAL INDIA, CIRCA 1600

The inscription in the margin below the painting is a later addition and identifies the building as the fortress of Mazandaran. However, this is likely a misidentification. Mazandaran in Iran wraps around the southern side of the Caspian Sea and is not a region that prominently features in much Mughal or Persian literature. It is however hard to relate the present illustration to a particular text. In the Shahnama Kai Kavus ventures to Mazandaran to fight against the kingdom of the Divs there, but there is no mention of any fortress being built.

Nonetheless, construction similar to the present lot is illustrated in several Mughal manuscripts. The present construction scene draws similarities to several in the Victoria & Albert Museum Akbarnama showing the construction of Fatehpur Sikri (acc. no. IS.2:91-1896) and the fort at Agra (acc. no. IS.2:45-1896). The worker using a shovel to mix the dusty ball of mortar bears a striking resemblance to a worker with a pick-axe in the foreground of another illustration from the same manuscript showing the cleansing and purification of Kukar Talao at Nagar (acc. no. 2:83-1896). The close similarities suggest that our painting was created, if not as an imperial commission, by an artist very familiar with the work of the imperial atelier in the late 16th century.

In addition to the Victoria & Albert Museum Akbarnama, ours is comparable to two illustrations from an imperial Mughal copy of Bal'ami's history of Tabari, made circa 1590. The first illustration of Bahram Gur is in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (acc. no. 14.648) and another was sold at Sotheby's, London, 26 October 2022, lot 50. Although our painting lacks a text panel within the painting plane, all three share the same gold inner border with a single orange rule and are of a very similar size.