{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O9302"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O9302/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2024NY8978/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2024NY8978/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2024NY8978","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2024NY8977","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2009BX3656","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2017KB8449","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O9302/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O9302","accessionNumber":"IS.2:16-1896","objectType":"Painting","titles":[{"title":"Akbar","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"This painting by the Mughal court artists Kesav Kalan and Dharmdas is an illustration from the <i>Akbarnama</i> (<i>Book of Akbar</i>), the history of the reign of Akbar (r.1556-1605) . It depicts an incident that took place after the Mughal army defeated Baz Bahadur, the Muslim ruler of Malwa in north-central India, in 1561. His court was renowned for its beautiful women dancers and musicians, some of whom are depicted here performing for the Mughal emperor.\r\n\r\nThe <i>Akbarnama</i> 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 <i>A’in-i Akbari</i>, 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.\r\n\r\nThe 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.","physicalDescription":"Painting, in opaque watercolour and gold on paper, the famous dancers of Baz Bahadur perform a <i>kathak</i> dance for Akbar following the defeat of the Malwa ruler in 1561. The dancers are shown wearing an unusual combination of layered skirts and trousers not seen elsewhere in the<i> Akbarnama</i>. The image is overlaid by two panels of Persian text.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Kesav Kalan","id":"A6094"},"association":{"text":"maker","id":"AAT251917"},"note":"outline"},{"name":{"text":"Dharmdas","id":"A1596"},"association":{"text":"maker","id":"AAT251917"},"note":"painting"}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"paper","id":"AAT14109"},{"text":"opaque watercolour","id":"x35013"},{"text":"paint","id":"AAT15029"},{"text":"gold","id":"AAT11021"}],"techniques":[{"text":"painted","id":"AAT54216"},{"text":"drawing","id":"x32498"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Painted in opaque watercolour and gold on paper","categories":[{"text":"ELISE","id":"THES48961"},{"text":"Paintings","id":"THES48917"},{"text":"Dance","id":"THES252984"},{"text":"Manuscripts","id":"THES48922"},{"text":"Images Online","id":"THES48937"},{"text":"Illustration","id":"THES48938"},{"text":"Bonita Trust Indian Paintings Cataloguing Project","id":"THES263148"}],"styles":[{"text":"Mughal","id":"AAT18939"},{"text":"Akbar","id":""}],"collectionCode":{"text":"SSEA","id":"THES48598"},"images":["2024NY8978","2024NY8977","2009BX3656","2017KB8449"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"004","id":"THES403519"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"painting","id":"AAT33618"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Mughal Empire","id":"THES262021"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca. 1590-95","earliest":"1585-01-01","latest":"1595-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Purchased from Mrs. Clarke, The Dingle, Sydenham Hill, S. E","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"32.9","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"25","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":"Persian","medium":"ink","method":"","position":"Margin of painting","script":"Persian","translation":"'Composition by Kesav the Elder/Work[= painting] by Dharmdas'","transliteration":"'Tarh Kesav Kalan/Amal Dharmdas'","type":"Maker's identification","note":"Contemporary librarian's attributions in Persian, in red ink in the margin below the painting."}],"objectHistory":"The Akbarnama, or \"Book of Akbar\", was commissioned by the emperor Akbar as the official chronicle of his reign. It was written by 1590 and 1596 and is thought to have been illustrated between ca. 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 Mrs. Frances Clarke, the widow of Major General John Clarke, an official who had been the Commissioner in Oudh province between 1858 and 1862.\r\n\r\nHistorical 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 third volume of the Akbarnama. The inscriptions in red ink on the bottom of the paintings refer to the artists and indicate that this was a royal copy.\r\n\r\nPurchased from Mrs. Clarke, The Dingle, Sydenham Hill, S. E. This acquisition information reflects that found in the Museum records (Asia Department registers and/or Central Inventory) as part of a 2023 provenance research project.\r\n\r\nRegistered Papers: 85488/95","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Painting, <i>Akbarnama</i>, dancers from Malwa perform before Akbar, outline by Kesu the Elder, painting by Dharm Das, opaque watercolour and gold on paper, Mughal, ca. 1590-95","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Susan Stronge, Painting for the Mughal Emperor. The Art of the Book 1560-1650, V&A Publications, London, 2002, pl. 45, p.67"},{"reference":{"text":"The Indian Heritage. Court life and Arts under Mughal Rule London: The Victoria and Albert Museum, 1982 Number: ISBN 0 906969 26 3","id":"AUTH352798"},"details":"Andrew Topsfield, cat. no. 26. p. 24","free":""},{"reference":{"text":"Susan Stronge, Nima Smith, and J.C. Harle. A Golden Treasury : Jewellery from the Indian Subcontinent London : Victoria and Albert Museum in association with Mapin Publishing, Ahmedabad, 1988. ISBN: 0944142168","id":"AUTH325355"},"details":"Fig 5 Page 27","free":""},{"reference":{"text":"Susan Stronge, Nima Smith, and J.C. Harle. A Golden Treasury : Jewellery from the Indian Subcontinent London : Victoria and Albert Museum in association with Mapin Publishing, Ahmedabad, 1988. ISBN: 0944142168","id":"AUTH325355"},"details":"Fig.5 page 28","free":""}],"production":"Composition by Kesav the Elder, painted by Dharmdas.","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"The famous dancers of Baz Bahadur perform a <i>kathak</i> dance for Akbar following the defeat of the Malwa ruler in 1561. ","contentPlaces":[{"text":"Malwa","id":"x30313"}],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[{"text":"Bahadur","id":"N112"},{"text":"Akbar (The Great)","id":"N107"}],"associatedPerson":[{"text":"Fazl, Abu'l","id":"N104"}],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"dancers","id":"AAT25653"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":["Akbarnama"],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["IS.2:16-1896"],"accessionNumberNum":"2","accessionNumberPrefix":"IS","accessionYear":1896,"otherNumbers":[{"type":{"text":"Inscription/original number","id":"THES51028"},"number":"96"}],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-04-30","recordCreationDate":"1998-10-09","availableToBook":true}}