{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O66744"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O66744/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006BC7506/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006BC7506/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006BC7506","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O66744/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O66744","accessionNumber":"IS.2516-1883","objectType":"Painting","titles":[{"title":"Hamza receives an envoy of Qitanush Shah","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"The <i>Hamzanama</i>, or 'Book of Hamza' was commissioned by the great Mughal emperor Akbar in the mid-16th century. The epic story of a character based very loosely on the life of the uncle of the Prophet Muhammad chronicles the fantastic adventures of Hamza as he and his band of heroes fight against the enemies of Islam. The stories, from a long-established oral tradition, were written down in Persian, the language of the court, in multiple volumes. These originally had 1400 illustrations, of which fewer than 200 survive today. Work probably began in about 1562 and took 15 years to complete.\r\nThe subject of this very damaged painting has been identified as Hamza receiving an envoy of Qitanush Shah, who asks for his assistance against the farangis (Franks).","physicalDescription":"The much damaged painting shows two horses in the foreground, before a mountain. Figures in European slashed doublets and lace ruffs with black hats can be made out behind the mountain, and the presence of a royal figure may be inferred by the parasol held over a horse at upper right. All the faces have been obliterated, whether of horses or men.","artistMakerPerson":[],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"gouache","id":"AAT70114"},{"text":"cotton (textile)","id":"AAT14067"}],"techniques":[{"text":"painting (image-making)","id":"AAT54216"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Goauche  on prepared cotton; the text written on paper lined with cotton. The folio thus has four layers, all glued together.","categories":[],"styles":[{"text":"Mughal court","id":"x30977"}],"collectionCode":{"text":"SSEA","id":"THES48598"},"images":["2006BC7506"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"007","id":"THES403674"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Painting","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca. 1562-77","earliest":"1557-01-01","latest":"1577-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"67.6","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"51.1","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"Text number 6"}],"objectHistory":"Commissioned by the Mughal emperor Akbar; bought for the museum by Caspar Purdon Clarke in Srinagar in 1881.","historicalContext":"The 'Hamzanama' was the first major project undertaken by the new painting studio of the Mughal court. Directed by two Iranian masters brought to India by Humayun, work began under Akbar and was said to have taken fifteen years to complete, drawing from artists from all over northern Hindustan.","briefDescription":"Hamza receives an envoy of Qitanush Shah who asks for help against the Franks. Hamzanama 1562-77.","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"C. Stanley Clarke. Indian Drawings. Twelve Mogul Paintings of the School of Humayun (16th century) illustrating the Romance of Amir Hamzah. Victoria and Albert Museum Portfolios, London, 1921.\r\nSeyller, John.  The Adventures of Hamza. Smithsonian Institution. 2002, cat. R31, pp. 260-1."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Gluck, 1925, fig. 15."},{"reference":{"text":"STRONGE, Susan. <u>Painting for the Mughal Emperor: The Art of the Book 1560 – 1660</u> London : V&A Publications, 2002. 192p, ill. ISBN 1 85177 358 4.","id":"AUTH326134"},"details":"p. 19, pl. 5","free":""}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["IS.2516-1883"],"accessionNumberNum":"2516","accessionNumberPrefix":"IS","accessionYear":1883,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-11-06","recordCreationDate":"2002-07-19","availableToBook":false}}