The Imam of Baghdad brought before the Caliph on a charge of heresy from the Tarikh-i-Alfi

Maker(s)
Artist: Basawan
Historical period(s)
Mughal dynasty, Reign of Akbar, ca. 1592 - 1594
Movement
Mughal Court
School
Mughal School
Medium
Opaque watercolor, ink and gold on paper
Dimensions
H x W (painting - verso): 40.7 × 21.5 cm (16 × 8 7/16 in)
Geography
India
Credit Line
Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Accession Number
F1931.26
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Painting
Type

Manuscript folio

Keywords
Caliph, Imam, India, Islam, Mughal dynasty (1526 - 1858), Qur'an, Reign of Akbar (1556 - 1605)
Provenance

To 1931
Ajit Ghose, Calcutta to 1931 [1]

From 1931
Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Ajit Ghose, Calcutta in 1931 [2]

Notes:

[1] Object file, undated folder sheet note.

[2] See note 1. Also see Freer Gallery of Art Purchase List file, Collections Management Office.

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

Ajit Ghose

Label

The Emperor Akbar commissioned the writing of the Tarikh-i-Alfi, (The History of a Thousand Years), to celebrate the year 1000 (1591-92) on the Muslim calendar. The manuscript probably contained hundreds of paintings, but only about thirty survive today.

Published References
  • Mahfuzul Haq. Discovery of a Portion of the Original Illustrated Manuscript of Tarikh-i-Alfi written for the emperor Akbar”. vol. 5, July 1931. after p. 470.
  • Ivan Stchoukine. La Peinture Indienne a l'epoque des Grands Moghols. Paris. .
  • Anis Farooqi. Art of India and Persia. New Delhi. pl. 45.
  • M.S. Dimand. Indian Miniature Paintings. Milan, n.d. p. 13, pl. 2.
  • Milo Cleveland Beach. The Imperial Image: Paintings for the Mughal Court., 2nd ed. Washington and Ahmedabad, India, 2012. cat. 11B, p. 78.
  • Milo Cleveland Beach. The Imperial Image: Paintings for the Mughal Court. Exh. cat. Washington, 1981. cat. 10b, pp. 92, 94.
  • Percy Brown. Indian Painting under the Mughals: A.D. 1550 to A.D. 1750. New York. pp. 114-8, 122.
  • Clement Huart. Les calligraphes et les miniaturistes de l'Orient musulman

    . Paris. p. 338.

Collection Area(s)
South Asian and Himalayan Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)

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