{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O9429"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O9429/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2009BX3720/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2009BX3720/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2009BX3720","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2017KB8479","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O9429/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O9429","accessionNumber":"IS.2:112-1896","objectType":"Painting","titles":[{"title":"Husain Quli and Akbar","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"The composition of this painting was designed by the Mughal court artist Basawan and was painted by Mansur, whose mastery in depicting animals is already apparent. It is the left side of a double-page composition (with IS.2:113-1896) illustrating the <i>Akbarnama</i> (<i>Book of Akbar</i>).  It depicts the Mughal general Husain Quli Khan Jahan presenting his prisoners to the emperor Akbar (r.1556–1605) in 1572, after the victorious military campaign in Gujarat. The prisoners have been made to dress in animal skins to add to their humiliation and have chains around their necks. \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 almost certainly  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 their 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, left side of a double page painting from the Akbarnama (right side is IS.2:113-1896). Depicts Husain Quli Khan presenting his prisoners brought over from his victory in Gujarat, where he defeated the mirza princes.  The prisoners have been made to dress in animal skins and have chains around their necks.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Basawan","id":"A1597"},"association":{"text":"maker","id":"AAT251917"},"note":"artist, outline"},{"name":{"text":"Mansur","id":"A1620"},"association":{"text":"maker","id":"AAT251917"},"note":"artist, painting"}],"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":"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":["2009BX3720","2017KB8479"],"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":[{"object":{"text":"IS.2:113-1896","id":"O9684"},"association":""}],"creditLine":"Purchased from Mrs. Clarke, The Dingle, Sydenham Hill, S. E","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"33","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"19","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":"","script":"Persian","translation":"'composition Basawan/work [= painting] by Mansur'","transliteration":"'Tarh: Basawan/amal:  Mansur'","type":"Maker's identification","note":"Contemporary librarian's attribution in Persian written beneath the image at the bottom of the page in red ink."}],"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>, Husain Qulip presents prisoners of war from Lahore, outline by Basawan, painting Mansur, opaque watercolour and gold on paper, Mughal, ca. 1590-95","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"W. Staude, ‘Contribution a l’etude de Basawan’, Extrait de la Revue des Arts asiatiques, Paris: Les editions d’art et d’histoire, 1934, fig. 17.\r\nJorge Flores and Nuno Vassallo e Silva eds, Goa and the Great Mughal, Lisbon,2004, cat 12 p. 217, detail illustrated p. 17.\r\nSusan Stronge, \"The Akbarnama and Mughal Court Culture\", in Gian Carlo Calza, ed., Akbar. The Great Emperor of India, Fondazione Roma, 2012, fig. 6a, p. 23.\r\nAsok Kumar Das, Wonders of Nature. Ustad Mansur at the Mughal Court, Marg Publications, Mumbai 2021. See fig. III.4, p. 43."}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"Husain Quli Khan presenting his prisoners brought over from his victory in Gujarat, where he defeated the mirza princes.  The prisoners have been made to dress in animal skins and have chains around their necks.","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[{"text":"Fazl, Abu'l","id":"N104"}],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"prisoners","id":"AAT259895"},{"text":"princes","id":"AAT25482"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":["Akbarnama"],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["IS.2:112-1896"],"accessionNumberNum":"2","accessionNumberPrefix":"IS","accessionYear":1896,"otherNumbers":[{"type":{"text":"Inscription/original number","id":"THES51028"},"number":"187"}],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-05-02","recordCreationDate":"1998-10-26","availableToBook":true}}