{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O9675"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O9675/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2009BX3683/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2009BX3683/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2009BX3683","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AT1482","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2017KB3633","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O9675/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O9675","accessionNumber":"IS.2:47-1896","objectType":"Painting","titles":[{"title":"Shuja'at Khan and Asaf Khan","type":"popular title"}],"summaryDescription":"This painting by the Mughal court artists Tulsi the Elder and Jagjivan from the <i>Akbarnama</i> (<i>Book of Akbar</i>) depicts Shuja’at Khan pursuing Asaf Khan on the River Ganges in north-east India. Asaf Khan was vizier to the Mughal emperor Akbar (r.1556–1605). He was also a highly effective military leader but, for reasons that are obscure in the text of the <i>Akbarnama</i>, kept treasure that the Mughal forces had seized during a successful campaign in 1565. He tried to flee with his supporters across the Ganges, where Akbar’s forces, led by the general Shuja’at Khan, caught up with him. A fierce confrontation followed, depicted in this illustration, but Asaf Khan escaped. In 1567, he sent messengers to the court asking for forgiveness, which was granted.\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, Shuja'at Khan pursuing Asaf Khan on the Ganges. The image shows the two boats filled with gun bearing men confronting each other.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Tulsi (the elder)","id":"A1579"},"association":{"text":"maker","id":"AAT251917"},"note":"artist, outline"},{"name":{"text":"Jagjivan","id":"A6099"},"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":"Images Online","id":"THES48937"},{"text":"Paintings","id":"THES48917"},{"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":["2009BX3683","2006AT1482","2017KB3633"],"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":[],"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":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"19.4","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"'Tarh Tulsi Kalan/Amal Jagjivan'","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 Tulsi the Elder/                                                                                   work [=painting] by Jagjivan","transliteration":"","type":"Maker's identification","note":"Maker's identification; Persian; Persian; 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>, Shuja'at Khan pursuing Asaf Khan on Ganges, outline by Tulsi the Elder, painting by Jagjivan, opaque watercolour and gold on paper, Mughal, ca. 1590-95","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"Outline composed by Tulsi the elder, colours and details painted by Jagjivan.","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"Shuja'at Khan pursuing Asaf Khan on the Ganges. The image shows the two boats filled with gun bearing men confronting each other.","contentPlaces":[{"text":"Ganges","id":"x35777"}],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[{"text":"Fazl, Abu'l","id":"N104"}],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"men","id":"AAT25928"},{"text":"castles","id":"AAT6891"},{"text":"boats","id":"AAT178749"},{"text":"rivers","id":"AAT8707"},{"text":"soldiers","id":"AAT185678"},{"text":"swords","id":"AAT37048"},{"text":"shields (armor)","id":"AAT36869"},{"text":"costume","id":"AAT178802"},{"text":"turbans","id":"AAT46127"}],"contentConcepts":[{"text":"warfare","id":"x33407"}],"contentLiteraryRefs":["Akbarnama"],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["IS.2:47-1896"],"accessionNumberNum":"2","accessionNumberPrefix":"IS","accessionYear":1896,"otherNumbers":[{"type":{"text":"inscription/original number","id":"THES51028"},"number":"130"}],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-04-12","recordCreationDate":"1998-11-16","availableToBook":true}}