{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O9627"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O9627/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2009BX3713/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2009BX3713/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2009BX3713","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/O9627/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O9627","accessionNumber":"IS.2:61-1896","objectType":"Painting","titles":[{"title":"Akbar ","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"This illustration from the <i>Akbarnama</i> (<i>Book of Akbar</i>) is the right side of a double-page composition designed by Basawan, one of the greatest artists at the Mughal court, with details painted by Tara the Elder. The left side is Museum no. IS.2:62-1896. Together they depict a battle between <i>sannyasis</i> (Hindu devotees) at Thanesar in north-west India, watched by the Mughal emperor Akbar (r.1556–1605) on horseback, accompanied by his entourage.\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, right side of double picture, left side being IS.2:62-1896. This image depicts Emperor Akbar watching a battle between two bands of <i>sanyasis</i> (Hindu devotees) at Thanesar. This foreground of the painting is taken up by the bloody fighting which is portrayed in gruesome detail including a severed body at the front. The emperor on horseback is watching the battle scene accompanied by his entourage.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Basawan","id":"A1597"},"association":{"text":"maker","id":"AAT251917"},"note":"artist, outline"},{"name":{"text":"Tara (the Elder)","id":"A1598"},"association":{"text":"maker","id":"AAT251917"},"note":"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":["2009BX3713","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":"32.9","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"18.7","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"'Tarh Basawan/Amal Tara Kalan'","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"Persian","medium":"ink","method":"","position":"","script":"Persian","translation":"'composed by Basawan/work [painting] by Tara the Elder'","transliteration":"","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>, Akbar watches a battle between two rival groups of <i>sanyasis</i> at Thanesar, outline by Basawan, painting by Tara the Elder, opaque watercolour and gold on paper, Mughal, ca. 1590-95","bibliographicReferences":[{"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. 53, pl. 35","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. 12\r\nJames Mallinson, ‘Yogic Identities: Tradition and Transformation’, 2013:\n\nhttp://web.archive.org/web/20230111154310/https://asia.si.edu/research/articles/yogic-identities.asp"},{"reference":{"text":"Diamond, D. Yoga: The Art of Transformation, Smithsonian Institute, 2013, 978-1-58834-459-5","id":"AUTH346380"},"details":"p. 77. fig. no. 9 and pp. 172-5.","free":""},{"reference":{"text":"Diamond, D. <i>Yoga: The Art of Transformation</i>, Smithsonian Institute, 2013","id":"AUTH346380"},"details":"pp. 173 and 299","free":""}],"production":"Outline composed by Basawan painted by Tara the Elder.","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"Emperor Akbar watching a battle between two bands of <i>sanyasis</i> (Hindu devotees) at Thanesar. ","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[{"text":"Akbar","id":"N107"}],"associatedPerson":[{"text":"Fazl, Abu'l","id":"N104"}],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"battle","id":"AAT185692"},{"text":"ruler","id":"AAT25475"}],"contentConcepts":[{"text":"battle","id":"x35625"}],"contentLiteraryRefs":["Akbarnama"],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["IS.2:61-1896"],"accessionNumberNum":"2","accessionNumberPrefix":"IS","accessionYear":1896,"otherNumbers":[{"type":{"text":"inscription/original number","id":"THES51028"},"number":"139"}],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-04-30","recordCreationDate":"1998-11-12","availableToBook":true}}