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Johnson 8,4
- Record Id:
- 041-003286598
- Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:
- 032-003286446
- MDARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100028184689.0x000099
- LARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100172116781.0x000001
- SLARK:
- Format:
- ISAD(G)
- Reference (shelfmark):
- Johnson 8,4
- Title:
-
Akbar ordering the slaughter to cease, scene from the Akbar-nama
- Scope & Content:
-
Akbar ordering the slaughter to cease.
Mughal, c.1590.
Richard Johnson Collection. Purchased 1807.
Gouache with gold; on an album page with plain border and modern extensions of grey paper.
306 by 185 mm; page 416 by 295 mm.
Reproduced: Ashton (1950), no.672, pl.130; W.G. Archer (1960), pl.22; Seth (1976), fig.76.
The emperor Akbar, seated on a boulder under a tree, informs his courtiers that the slaughter of animals should cease at a ‘qamargha’ near Bhera in 1578. Animals are amassed in the upper left corner with beaters on the right.
Note: From a manuscript of the ‘Akbarnama’ of Abu’l Fazl of which a surviving volume is in the Victoria and Albert Museum (I.S.2-1896). Separate illustrations from other volumes are dispersed in various collections. Although there is no accessible text with the present picture, the passage of the ‘Akbarnama’ to which the scene most closely relates is: ‘[Akbar] on 12 Urdibihisht, 22 April 1578, resolved upon having a ‘qamargha’ hunt in the neighbourhood of Bhera. ... [during the hunt Akbar experiences a Divine revelation] ... Others thought that the beasts of the forest had with a tongueless tongue imparted Divine secrets to him. When he had for a long time received the Divine rays, the blissful servants came and in proportion to their capacity carried off the fragments of the feast ... he in thanksgiving for this great boon set free many thousands of animals. Active men made every endeavour that no one should touch the feather of a finch and that they should allow all the animals to depart according to their habits. (Abu’l Fazl (1898-1910), III, 345-47).
An illustration of very similar sentiment and composition is in the Victoria and Albert Museum volume, f.84 (Stchoukine (1929), pl.XV).
- Collection Area:
- Visual Arts
- Project / Collection:
- Johnson Collection
- Hierarchy Record Ids:
- 032-003286446
040-003286594
041-003286598 - Is part of:
- Johnson Collection : Richard Johnson CollectionRichard Johnson (1753-1807) lived in India from June 1770 until January 1790. He began working…
Johnson 8 : Total of 6 leaves separately mounted, of which one is Persian. There is no apparent reason for the selection.
Johnson 8,4 : Akbar ordering the slaughter to cease, scene from the Akbar-nama - Hierarchy:
- 032-003286446[0009]/040-003286594[0004]/041-003286598
- Container:
- View / search within Archive / Collection: Johnson Collection
- Record Type (Level):
- Item
- Extent:
- 1 Item
- Digitised Content:
- http://access.bl.uk/item/viewer/ark:/81055/vdc_100172116781.0x000001 (digital images currently unavailable)
- Thumbnail:
-
- Languages:
- Not applicable
- Scripts:
- Not applicable
- Styles:
- Mughal style
Mughal/Akbar style - Start Date:
- 1589
- End Date:
- 1591
- Date Range:
- c 1590
- Era:
- CE
- Access:
- Restrictions to access apply please consult British Library staff
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- User Conditions:
- Appointment required to view these records. Please consult Asian and African Studies Print Room staff.
- Physical Characteristics:
-
Medium: opaque watercolour
- Former Internal References:
- J.8,4
- Finding Aids:
- Toby Falk and Mildred Archer, Indian miniatures in the India Office Library (London: Sotheby Parke Bernet, 1981), 3
- Publications:
-
Mughal India: Art, Culture and Empire, by J.P. Losty and M. Roy (London, 2012), fig. 12
- Exhibitions:
- The Indian Portrait 1560-1860, National Portrait Gallery, London, 11 March - 20 June 2010
- Material Type:
- Prints, Drawings and Paintings
- Legal Status:
- Not Public Record(s)