{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O9646"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O9646/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2009BX3700/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2009BX3700/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2009BX3700","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2017KB3663","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2018KX0639","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O9646/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O9646","accessionNumber":"IS.2:55-1896","objectType":"Painting","titles":[{"title":"Akbar and Hamid Bakari","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"This illustration to the <i>Akbarnama</i> (<i>Book of Akbar</i>) is the right side of a double-page composition (see Museum no. IS.2:56-1896 for the left side). The entire composition depicts a ceremonial hunt that took place near Lahore, in present-day north-east Pakistan, in 1567. The Mughal emperor Akbar (r.1556–1605) is shown in the centre of the painting mounted on horseback with his sword raised. At top right Hamid Bakkari is shown being punished for firing an arrow at one of the servants of the court by having his head shaved and being forced to ride backwards on an ass. The composition was designed by the Mughal court artist Miskina, who also painted the face of the emperor, and the rest was painted by Sarwan.\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, the left side being IS.2:56-1896. The Mughal emperor Akbar (r.1556–1605) is shown  in the centre of the painting mounted on  horseback with his sword raised. At top right  Hamid Bakkari is shown being punished for firing an arrow at one of the servants of the court  by having his head shaved and being forced to ride backwards on an ass.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Miskina","id":"A1609"},"association":{"text":"maker","id":"AAT251917"},"note":"artist, outlines "},{"name":{"text":"Sarwan","id":"A1599"},"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":"Manuscripts","id":"THES48922"},{"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":["2009BX3700","2017KB3663","2018KX0639"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"003","id":"THES403518"},"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.2:56-1896","id":"O9644"},"association":""}],"creditLine":"Purchased from Mrs. Clarke, The Dingle, Sydenham Hill, S. E","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"32.1","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"18.6","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"'Tarh va nami chehra Miskina/Amal Sarwan'","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 Miskina/work [=painting] by Sarwan'","transliteration":"","type":"Maker's identification","note":"Contemporary attribution in Persian 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 punishes Hamid Bakari, outline and portraits by Miskina, painting by Sarwan, opaque watercolour and gold on paper, Mughal, ca. 1590-95","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Swallow, Deborah and John Guy eds. <font u>Arts of India: 1550-1900</font u>. text by Rosemary Crill, John Guy, Veronica Murphy, Susan Stronge and Deborah Swallow. London : V&A Publications, 1990. 240 p., ill. ISBN 1851770224, p.72, no.50.\r\nDivyabhanusinh, The End of a Trail. The Cheetah in India. Oxford India Paperbacks, New Delhi 2002 (second edition), pp. 56 and 57 \r\nDivyabhanusinh, 'Hunting in Mughal Painting', in Som Prakash Verma, ed., Flora and Fauna in Mughal ARt, Marg Publications, Mumbai 1999, 94-108.\r\nSusan Stronge, Painting for the Mughal Emperor. The Art of the Book 1560-1650, V&A Publications, 2002, pl. 42, p. 63."},{"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. 63, pl. 42 (right).","free":""},{"reference":{"text":"Stronge, S. Made for Mughal Emperors. Royal Treasures from Hindustan. London and New York, 2010","id":"AUTH327057"},"details":"p. 75, pl. 51","free":""},{"reference":{"text":"Stronge, S. \"The Arts of the Sikh Kingdoms\", V&A, 1999","id":"AUTH327365"},"details":"p.69, pl. 68, cat no. 26, p. 212","free":""},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Crill, Rosemary, Arts of Asia, vol. 45, no. 5, September - October 2015, \"The Fabric of India\" Exhibition,  p.73. pl. 15."},{"reference":{"text":"The art of India and Pakistan, a commemorative catalogue of the exhibition held at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1947-8. Edited by Sir Leigh Ashton. London: Faber and Faber, [1950]","id":"AUTH343744"},"details":"p. 151, cat. no. 670 d","free":""},{"reference":{"text":"Swallow, D., Stronge, S., Crill, R., Koezuka, T., editor and translator, \"The Art of the Indian Courts. Miniature Painting and Decorative Arts\", Victoria & Albert Museum and NHK Kinki Media Plan, 1993.","id":"AUTH346698"},"details":"p. 18, cat. no. 2","free":""},{"reference":{"text":"Miller, Lesley Ellis, and Ana Cabrera Lafuente, with Claire Allen-Johnstone, eds. <u>Silk: Fibre, Fabric and Fashion</u>. London: Thames & Hudson Ltd in association with the Victoria and Albert Museum, 2021. ISBN 978-0-500-48065-6.","id":"AUTH389403"},"details":"This object features in the publication Silk: Fibre, Fabric and Fashion (2021)","free":""}],"production":"Composition by  Miskina, colours and details painted by Sarwan.","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"The Mughal emperor Akbar (r.1556–1605) is shown  in the centre of the painting mounted on  horseback with his sword raised. At top right  Hamid Bakkari is shown being punished for  firing an arrow at one of the servants of the court  by having his head shaved and being forced to  ride backwards on an ass.","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[{"text":"Fazl, Abu'l","id":"N104"}],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"ruler","id":"AAT25475"},{"text":"ass","id":"x30281"},{"text":"servants","id":"AAT25874"},{"text":"arrow","id":"AAT36976"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":["Akbarnama"],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["IS.2:55-1896"],"accessionNumberNum":"2","accessionNumberPrefix":"IS","accessionYear":1896,"otherNumbers":[{"type":{"text":"inscription/original number","id":"THES51028"},"number":"135"}],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-10-23","recordCreationDate":"1998-11-13","availableToBook":true}}