Shuja'at Khan and Asaf Khan thumbnail 1
Shuja'at Khan and Asaf Khan thumbnail 2
Not currently on display at the V&A

Shuja'at Khan and Asaf Khan

Painting
ca. 1590-95 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This painting by the Mughal court artists Tulsi the Elder and Jagjivan from the Akbarnama (Book of Akbar) depicts Shuja’at Khan pursuing Asaf Khan on the River Ganges in north-east India. Asaf Khan was vizier to the Mughal emperor Akbar (r.1556–1605). He was also a highly effective military leader but, for reasons that are obscure in the text of the Akbarnama, kept treasure that the Mughal forces had seized during a successful campaign in 1565. He tried to flee with his supporters across the Ganges, where Akbar’s forces, led by the general Shuja’at Khan, caught up with him. A fierce confrontation followed, depicted in this illustration, but Asaf Khan escaped. In 1567, he sent messengers to the court asking for forgiveness, which was granted.

The Akbarnama was commissioned by Akbar as the official chronicle of his reign. It was written in Persian by his court historian and biographer, Abu’l Fazl, between 1590 and 1596, and the V&A’s partial copy of the manuscript is thought to have been illustrated between about 1592 and 1595. This is thought to be the earliest illustrated version of the text, and drew upon the expertise of some of the best royal artists of the time. Many of these are listed by Abu’l Fazl in the third volume of the text, the A’in-i Akbari, and some of these names appear in the V&A illustrations, written in red ink beneath the pictures, showing that this was a royal copy made for Akbar himself. After his death, the manuscript remained in the library of his son Jahangir, from whom it was inherited by Shah Jahan.

The V&A purchased the manuscript in 1896 from Frances Clarke, the widow of Major General John Clarke, who bought it in India while serving as Commissioner of Oudh between 1858 and 1862.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleShuja'at Khan and Asaf Khan (popular title)
Materials and techniques
Painted in opaque watercolour and gold on paper
Brief description
Painting, Akbarnama, Shuja'at Khan pursuing Asaf Khan on Ganges, outline by Tulsi the Elder, painting by Jagjivan, opaque watercolour and gold on paper, Mughal, ca. 1590-95
Physical description
Painting, in opaque watercolour and gold on paper, Shuja'at Khan pursuing Asaf Khan on the Ganges. The image shows the two boats filled with gun bearing men confronting each other.
Dimensions
  • Height: 32cm
  • Width: 19.4cm
Content description
Shuja'at Khan pursuing Asaf Khan on the Ganges. The image shows the two boats filled with gun bearing men confronting each other.
Styles
Marks and inscriptions
'Tarh Tulsi Kalan/Amal Jagjivan' (Maker's identification; Persian; Persian; ink)
Translation
'composition by Tulsi the Elder/ work [=painting] by Jagjivan
Credit line
Purchased from Mrs. Clarke, The Dingle, Sydenham Hill, S. E
Object history
The Akbarnama was commissioned by the emperor Akbar as the official chronicle of his reign. It was written by his court historian and biographer Abu'l Fazl between 1590 and 1596 and is thought to have been illustrated between c. 1592 and 1594 by at least forty-nine different artists from Akbar's studio. After Akbar's death in 1605, the manuscript remained in the library of his son, Jahangir (r. 1605-1627) and later Shah Jahan (r. 1628-1658). The Victoria and Albert Museum purchased it in 1896 from the widow of Major General Clarke, an official who had been the Commissioner in Oudh province between 1858 and 1862.

Historical significance: It is thought to be the first illustrated copy of the Akbarnama. It drew upon the expertise of some of the best royal painters of the time, many of whom receive special mention by Abu'l Fazl in the A'in-i-Akbari. The inscriptions in red ink on the bottom of the paintings name the artists.
Production
Outline composed by Tulsi the elder, colours and details painted by Jagjivan.
Subjects depicted
Place depicted
Association
Literary referenceAkbarnama
Summary
This painting by the Mughal court artists Tulsi the Elder and Jagjivan from the Akbarnama (Book of Akbar) depicts Shuja’at Khan pursuing Asaf Khan on the River Ganges in north-east India. Asaf Khan was vizier to the Mughal emperor Akbar (r.1556–1605). He was also a highly effective military leader but, for reasons that are obscure in the text of the Akbarnama, kept treasure that the Mughal forces had seized during a successful campaign in 1565. He tried to flee with his supporters across the Ganges, where Akbar’s forces, led by the general Shuja’at Khan, caught up with him. A fierce confrontation followed, depicted in this illustration, but Asaf Khan escaped. In 1567, he sent messengers to the court asking for forgiveness, which was granted.

The Akbarnama was commissioned by Akbar as the official chronicle of his reign. It was written in Persian by his court historian and biographer, Abu’l Fazl, between 1590 and 1596, and the V&A’s partial copy of the manuscript is thought to have been illustrated between about 1592 and 1595. This is thought to be the earliest illustrated version of the text, and drew upon the expertise of some of the best royal artists of the time. Many of these are listed by Abu’l Fazl in the third volume of the text, the A’in-i Akbari, and some of these names appear in the V&A illustrations, written in red ink beneath the pictures, showing that this was a royal copy made for Akbar himself. After his death, the manuscript remained in the library of his son Jahangir, from whom it was inherited by Shah Jahan.

The V&A purchased the manuscript in 1896 from Frances Clarke, the widow of Major General John Clarke, who bought it in India while serving as Commissioner of Oudh between 1858 and 1862.
Other number
130 - inscription/original number
Collection
Accession number
IS.2:47-1896

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Record createdNovember 16, 1998
Record URL
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