{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O9719"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O9719/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2009BX3669/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2009BX3669/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2009BX3669","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006BF0320","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2017KB3639","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O9719/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O9719","accessionNumber":"IS.2:37-1896","objectType":"Painting","titles":[{"title":"Qadam Khan","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"In 1564, the Mughal emperor Akbar visited the house of  his uncle, Khwaja Mu’azzam, to order him not to remove his wife from the capital, Agra.  Zuhra Agha had already received death threats from her husband, and her mother feared that if she was taken away Khwaja Mu'azzam would carry out his threat. On hearing that the emperor's arrival was imminent, Khwaja Mu'azzam became frenzied and stabbed Zuhra Agha, killing her. When Akbar entered the house, his companions tied up the murderer, but the emperor sensed that one of the domestic servants was about to kill him. He swiftly ordered one of his own men, Qutlaq Qadam Khan, to strike first. The unnamed artists who designed the composition and applied the colours vividly depict the incident described in the Persian text. The would-be attacker was instantly decapitated and, in the words of Henry Beveridge's English translation, ‘for a moment the trunk remained standing and the black blood spouted from the arteries of the neck’. The event  was illustrated in this partial copy of the text written by Abu'l Fazl between about 1590 and 1595. On the reverse is another painting (IS.2:38-1896) thought to be by the same, unidentified artist.\r\nThe Akbarnama (Book of Akbar) was commissioned by the emperor Akbar in 1589 as the official chronicle of his reign.  It was written by Abu'l Fazl and substantially complete by 1596. The illustrations were being prepared as the historian drafted and rewrote the textby at least 49 different artists from Akbar's Ketabkhana, or \"House of Books\", where manuscripts were stored as well as created.. After Akbar's death in 1605, this incomplete manuscript remained in the library of his son, Jahangir (r. 1605-1627), who recorded his ownership on the flylife.  The  Museum purchased it in 1896 from Mrs 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":"Painted in opaque watercolour and gold on paper, Qutlaq Qadam Khan killing a treacherous Gujarati servant in Khwaja Muazzam's house in 1564. The image is overlaid with a panel of text in the bottom right hand corner.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Unknown","id":"A1848"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"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":"Manuscripts","id":"THES48922"},{"text":"Paintings","id":"THES48917"},{"text":"Royalty","id":"THES48899"},{"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":["2009BX3669","2006BF0320","2017KB3639"],"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":"31","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"average","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"18.3","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"average","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"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>, Qadam Khan killing a treacherous servant, opaque watercolour and gold on paper, Mughal, ca. 1590-95","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"Unsigned, artist unidentified.","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"Qutlaq Qadam Khan killing a treacherous Gujarati servant in Khwaja Muazzam's house in 1564. ","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[{"text":"Akbar","id":"N107"},{"text":"Qutlaq Qadam Khan","id":"AUTH327421"}],"associatedPerson":[{"text":"Fazl, Abu'l","id":"N104"}],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"servant","id":"AAT25874"},{"text":"death","id":"AAT151836"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":["Akbarnama"],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"THE BEHEADING OF A TREACHEROUS SERVANT\r\nIllustration to the Akbarnama\r\nOpaque watercolour and gold on paper\r\nMughal, artists unknown\r\nc. 1590-95\r\nIS.2:37-1896\r\nAkbar was constantly threatened by rebellions in the first twenty years of his long reign. In 1564, he visited the house of a serial rebel, Khwaja Mu’azzam. Akbar sensed that one of the Khwaja’s servants was about to kill him. He swiftly ordered his own man to strike first. The would-be attacker was instantly decapitated. The text of this official history records: ‘for a moment the trunk remained standing and the black blood spouted from the arteries of the neck’.\r\n","date":{"text":"27/9/2013","earliest":"2013-09-27","latest":"2013-09-27"}}],"partNumbers":["IS.2:37-1896"],"accessionNumberNum":"2","accessionNumberPrefix":"IS","accessionYear":1896,"otherNumbers":[{"type":{"text":"inscription/original number","id":"THES51028"},"number":"117"}],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-04-30","recordCreationDate":"1998-11-18","availableToBook":true}}