{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O9726"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O9726/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2009BX3664/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2009BX3664/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2009BX3664","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AT0821","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2017KB3638","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O9726/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O9726","accessionNumber":"IS.2:33-1896","objectType":"Painting","titles":[{"title":"Akbar","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"This illustration depicts an attempt on the life of the Mughal emperor Akbar (r.1556–1605) at Delhi in 1564. Akbar is shown in white on horseback clutching an arrow. His retainers pursue the would-be assassins and kill one of them. The Mughal court artists Jagan, Bhawani Kalan and Madhav worked together on the painting.\r\n\r\nThe painting is from the <i>Akbarnama</i> (<i>Book of Akbar</i>), commissioned by Akbar as the official chronicle of his reign. The <i>Akbarnama</i> 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, this illustration depicts an attempt on the life of Akbar at Delhi. Akbar is shown on horseback clutching the arrow which was shot at him. His retainers pursue the would-be assassins. The image is overlaid by two bands of text extending from the left hand margin.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Jagan","id":"A1588"},"association":{"text":"maker","id":"AAT251917"},"note":"artist, outline"},{"name":{"text":"Bhawani Kalan","id":"A6124"},"association":{"text":"maker","id":"AAT251917"},"note":"artist, painting, Bhawani the Elder"},{"name":{"text":"Madhav","id":"A6098"},"association":{"text":"maker","id":"AAT251917"},"note":"artist, portraits"}],"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":["2009BX3664","2006AT0821","2017KB3638"],"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":"33.8","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":"","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 Jagan/work [=painting] by Bhawani the elder faces by Madhav'","transliteration":"'Tarh Jagan/Amal Bhawani Kalan/Chehreh nami Madhav'","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>, attempt to assassinate Akbar at Delhi, outline by Jagan, painting by Bhawani the Elder, portraits by Madhav, opaque watercolour and gold on paper, Mughal, ca.1590-95","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Geeti Sen, Paintings from the Akbar-Nama. Lustre Press Pvt 1984, 80-3\r\nStronge, Susan. Painting for the Mughal Emperor: The Art of the Book 1560-1660, V&A Publications, 2002, pl. 31, p. 48.\r\nThe incident is described in Beveridge, vol. II, 313; Badaoni, tr. Lowe, II, 54-60."}],"production":"Composition by Jagan, painted by Bhawani Kalan, portraits by Madhav.","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"An attempt on the life of Akbar at Delhi. Akbar is shown on horseback clutching the arrow which was shot at him. His retainers pursue the would-be assassins. ","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[{"text":"Akbar","id":"N107"}],"associatedPerson":[{"text":"Fazl, Abu'l","id":"N104"}],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"arrow","id":"AAT36976"},{"text":"ruler","id":"AAT25475"},{"text":"equestrians","id":"AAT188602"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":["Akbarnama"],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"AN ATTEMPT TO KILL AKBAR\r\nIllustration to the Akbarnama\r\nOpaque watercolour and gold on paper\r\nComposition by Jagan, painting by Bhawani the Elder, portraits by Madhu\r\nMughal, c. 1590-95\r\nIS.2:33-1896\r\nThis illustration depicts an incident that took place in Delhi in 1564. Akbar was returning to the palace after an expedition when someone in the crowd shot an arrow. It struck him in the shoulder, but here the wounding is only implied. The emperor, on horseback, holds the arrow. The painting concentrates instead on the death of the would-be assassin at the hands of the imperial guard, at the lower left of the scene.","date":{"text":"01/08/2017","earliest":"2017-08-01","latest":"2017-08-01"}},{"text":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null}}],"partNumbers":["IS.2:33-1896"],"accessionNumberNum":"2","accessionNumberPrefix":"IS","accessionYear":1896,"otherNumbers":[{"type":{"text":"inscription/original number","id":"THES51028"},"number":"113"}],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-12-05","recordCreationDate":"1998-11-18","availableToBook":true}}