{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O9420"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O9420/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2009BX3723/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2009BX3723/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2009BX3723","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2017KB3652","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O9420/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O9420","accessionNumber":"IS.2:114-1896","objectType":"Painting","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"This illustration to the <i>Akbarnama</i> depicts the emperor Akbar greeting Rajput rulers and other nobles at court, probably in 1577. \r\n\r\nThe <i>Akbarnama</i> was commissioned by the emperor Akbar in 1589 as the official chronicle of his reign. It was written by his court historian and biographer Abu'l Fazl who finished the major part of the text by 1596. The illustrations were being painted as the historian drafted and rewrote his textby at least 49 different artists from Akbar's studio. After Akbar's death in 1605, this incomplete manuscript remained in the library of his son, Jahangir (r. 1605-1627), who recorded his ownership on the flyleaf, 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, who acquired it in Lucknow while serving as Commissioner of Oudh between 1858 and 1862.","physicalDescription":"Painting, in opaque watercolour and gold on paper, the ambassadors of Mirza Shahrukh  paying homage to Akbar. Akbar is seated in the royal pavilion whilst before him leading dignitaries stand on a carpeted dais. An elephant and cheetah can be seen in the foreground.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Sarwan","id":"A1599"},"association":{"text":"maker","id":"AAT251917"},"note":"artist, painting"},{"name":{"text":"Madhav","id":"A6098"},"association":{"text":"maker","id":"AAT251917"},"note":"artist, portraits"},{"name":{"text":"Miskin","id":"A1614"},"association":{"text":"maker","id":"AAT251917"},"note":"artist, composition"}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"paper","id":"AAT14109"},{"text":"opaque watercolour","id":"x35013"},{"text":"paint","id":"AAT15029"}],"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":"Royalty","id":"THES48899"},{"text":"Images Online","id":"THES48937"},{"text":"Animals and Wildlife","id":"THES250852"},{"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":["2009BX3723","2017KB3652"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"007","id":"THES403711"},"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","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"picture only","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"19.2","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"picture only","note":""},{"dimension":"Height","value":"37.9","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"page","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"24.3","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"page","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":"","script":"Persian","translation":"'Composition by Miskin/\tWork [ie painting] by Sarwan /\tfaces and eight portraits by Madhav'","transliteration":"'tarh Miskin/amal Sarwan/chehra nami hasht surat Madhav'","type":"Maker's identification","note":"This is a contemporary attribution in Persian, written in red ink at the bottom of the page."}],"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>, ambassadors of Mirza Shahrukh pay homage to Akbar, outline by Miskin, painting by Sarwan, portraits by Madhu, opaque watercolour and gold on paper, Mughal, ca. 1590-95","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Rosemary Crill, Mistaken identities : Mughal portraits of Raja Man Singh of Amber and Udai Singh of Marwar. Oriental Art, Autumn 1994, vol.XL, no.3, pp.2-6.\r\nSusan Stronge, Painting for the Mughal Emperor. The Art of the Book 1560-1650, V&A Publications, 2002, p. 25, p. 40.\r\nJorge Flores and Nuno Vassallo e Silva eds, Goa and the Great Mughal, Lisbon,2004, cat 53 p. 222, illustrated p. 16."},{"reference":{"text":"The Indian Portrait: 1560-1860 London: National Portrait Gallery, 2010 Number: 978 1 85514 409 5","id":"AUTH340071"},"details":"p. 26, fig. 2.","free":""}],"production":"Composition by Miskin, painting  by Sarwan and eight portraits executed by Madhav. Attribution place is likely to be Delhi, Agra or Fatehpur Sikri.","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"The ambassadors of Mirza Shahrukh  paying homage to Akbar. Akbar is seated in the royal pavilion whilst before him leading dignitaries stand on a carpeted dais. An elephant and cheetah can be seen in the foreground.","contentPlaces":[{"text":"Fatehpur Sikri","id":"x30321"}],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[{"text":"Akbar","id":"N107"},{"text":"Bhagwan Das (Raja)","id":"N120"},{"text":"Todar Mal (Raja)","id":"N121"}],"associatedPerson":[{"text":"Fazl, Abu'l","id":"N104"}],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"elephant","id":"x30316"},{"text":"cheetah","id":"x30302"},{"text":"peacock","id":"x30077"},{"text":"pavilion","id":"AAT6819"},{"text":"ambassadors","id":"AAT188587"},{"text":"pavilion","id":"AAT6819"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":["Akbarnama"],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"ENVOYS VISIT AKBAR’S COURT\r\nIllustration to the Akbarnama\r\nOpaque watercolour and gold on paper\r\nMughal, composition by Miskina, painted by Sarwan, portraits by Madhav\r\nc. 1590-95\n\r\nIS.2:114-1896\r\nTwo artists usually worked on the illustrations for Akbar’s manuscripts. Here, a third specialist added eight portraits of Akbar’s Central Asian visitors and leading Mughal court figures. Only one, the brilliant prime minister Raja Todar Mal, is named in the red marginal inscriptions. He is almost certainly the figure in white with a gold pen-and-ink case, an emblem of his high office, in his sash. His reforms included adopting Persian as the official language of the empire in 1584.","date":{"text":"27/9/2013","earliest":"2013-09-27","latest":"2013-09-27"}}],"partNumbers":["IS.2:114-1896"],"accessionNumberNum":"2","accessionNumberPrefix":"IS","accessionYear":1896,"otherNumbers":[{"type":{"text":"inscription/original number","id":"THES51028"},"number":"197"}],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-05-02","recordCreationDate":"1998-10-23","availableToBook":true}}