Johnson 3,1

Dil Pasand, Dara Shikoh’s horse.

By Manohar, Mughal, c.1630.

Richard Johnson Collection. Purchased 1807.

Inscribed in Persian: ‘shabih-i dil pasand, ‘amal-i manohar’ (a likeness of Dil Pasand [Heart’s Love], the work of Manohar); beneath horse in red: ‘shabih-i asb-i savar-i dara shikoh’ (a likeness of the riding horse of Dara Shikoh); numbered 69 in Persian inventory note.

Gouache with gold; card border on three sides.

260 by 361 mm; page 293 by 394 mm.

Reverse: a circular seal with two inscriptions pasted over.

Reproduced: Smith (1911 ), pl.CXXV; Heath (1925), pl.II; Losty (1986), 36.

Listed: Beach (1978), 137.

Prince Dara Shikoh’s favourite horse, Dil Pasand (Heart’s Love), stands facing right with one foreleg lifted, his white body lightly tinged with blue, decked with a tasseled saddle-cloth and a coloured bridle, red collars at the fetlocks. The background is pale brown with coloured sky at the top.

Note: The inscription of attribution to Manohar is in a bold hand, perhaps that of Dara Shikoh, and can be accepted as authoritative. While it seems unlikely that Manohar was actually employed in his last years by Dara Shikoh (Godard (1937), 183), it is quite reasonable that at the age of about sixty he could have painted this picture of a favourite horse for the fifteen-year-old prince. An account of Manohar and his works is given in Beach (1978), 130-37).