{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O9624"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O9624/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2024NY9392/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2024NY9392/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2024NY9392","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2024NY9391","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2009BX3715","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2017KB3644","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O9624/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O9624","accessionNumber":"IS.2:63-1896","objectType":"Painting","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"This painting by the Mughal court artists Kesav Kalan and Chetar Muni is an illustration to the <i>Akbarnama</i> (<i>Book of Akbar</i>). It is on the same opening as Museum no. IS.2:115-1896 but the two compositions are independent. This painting depicts the discovery in 1567 of the decapitated head of the rebel Khan Zaman. He was repeatedly disloyal to the Mughal emperor Akbar (r.1556–1605) and a reward was offered to anyone who brought his head to the emperor. Eventually, Khan Zaman’s head was found lying under a tree, as shown here.\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. After Akbar’s 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 capture of the rebel Bahadur Khan by the army of Akbar, with Nazr Bahadur, in 1567. ","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Kesav Kalan","id":"A6094"},"association":{"text":"artist","id":"AAT25103"},"note":""},{"name":{"text":"Chetar Muni","id":"A1608"},"association":{"text":"artist","id":"AAT25103"},"note":""}],"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":["2024NY9392","2024NY9391","2009BX3715","2017KB3644"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"002","id":"THES403517"},"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":"38.1","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"folio","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"22.4","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"folio","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"No exact measurements available, but image cannot exceed folio size of 38.1cm x 22.4cm.","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 and portraits by Kesav the Elder/work of [painted by] Chetar Muni'","transliteration":"'Tarh wa nami chehreh:  Kesav Kalan/amal:  Chetar Muni'","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>, capture of Bahadur Khan, outline and portraits by Kesav the Elder, paintings by Chetar Muni, opaque watercolour and gold on paper, Mughal, ca. 1590-95\r\n","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"Outline composed by Kesav Kalan, colours and details painted by Chetar Muni.","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"The capture of the rebel Bahadur Khan by the army of Akbar, with Nazr Bahadur n 1567. ","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[{"text":"Khan, Bahadur","id":"N114"}],"associatedPerson":[{"text":"Fazl, Abu'l","id":"N104"}],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"army","id":"AAT137542"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":["Akbarnama"],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["IS.2:63-1896"],"accessionNumberNum":"2","accessionNumberPrefix":"IS","accessionYear":1896,"otherNumbers":[{"type":{"text":"inscription/original number","id":"THES51028"},"number":"146"}],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-04-30","recordCreationDate":"1998-11-12","availableToBook":true}}