Akbar Receiving the Drums and Standards Captured from Abdullah Khan Uzbeg

This particular folio from Akbarnama shows how music becomes a language of victory. Akbar receives the captured drums and military standards of the rebel Abdullah Khan Uzbek after his defeat. The drums announce the presence of a ruler, marking the loss of one authority and the rise of another. Musicians often travelled with armies and royal courts. Military campaigns brought together people from different regions, languages, and traditions. Performance practices synchronised across kingdoms through conquest, migration, and political alliances. Battlefields became spaces where these different traditions met and gradually developed into distinct musical styles. The later formation of many gharanas can be understood through this long history of movement and exchange. Anant beautifully captures how artistic traditions therefore followed changing political centres. Music grew, survived and transformed as it adapted to new patrons over time.