The 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.
Named "Akbar Watching Two Men Drowning in the Ravi River," or "Akbar Witnesses the Drowning of Two Members of His Retinue" in some accounts, this illustration is one of the significant folios in V&A Akbarnama, the official biography of Akbar (reigned 1556—1605), the great 3rd Mughal Emperor of India. Written by his historian court and prime minister Abul Fazl in Persian, the Akbarnama serves as a significant biography as well as a political manifesto for Akbar. Produced in a royal kitabkhana during the late 16th century (around 1590 and 1595) this elaborately illustrated manuscript vividly reconstructed Akbar's reign, notable achievements, court assess, and imperial travels.
This folio illustrates an incident taking place after a royal qamargha (a ring hunt). While crossing the raging Ravi river, Akbar and his followers had to face the unfortunate accident of two men in his entourage drowning before their eyes while crossing the river. The artwork does not show any image of a more idyllic court life. Rather, it shows a rare few moments of vulnerability in the art of imperial mobility. According to established conventions, the production of the work of art was not a task that depended on a single artist but was executed by a number of skilled masters. In the case of this folio, two masters, who worked together, produced the picture. The first artist, known under the name Lal, was one of Akbar’s most prominent senior artists and developed the general design of the composition (tarh). As the result of the architectural elaboration provided by the artist, the composition has dynamic diagonal lines and perspective.
The second artist, who was also a court artist of great repute, is known under the name of Sanwala, who was responsible for the execution of the paint application. The artist provided the folio with its tone, ambience, and emotionality under Akbar and Jahangir. In contrast to Lal, who produced the general blueprint of the scene, Sanwala added color to it as well as created details, such as the landscapes and the figures.
The composition combines diagonal geographical shapes with flowing water in such a way that it attracts the viewer's attention. The upper section comprises of rocky terrain with intricate landscape details, highlighting Sanwala’s exceptional expertise in portraying geography and natural vegetation. Akbar is depicted riding on horseback or positioned next to the river bank, surrounded by his entourage, while his calm and vigilant demeanor is at odds with the calamity taking place in the river below. This is because Sanwala has created an interesting contrast between the notion of ruling and human empathy.
In the foreground and the middle ground, the turbulent and turbulent waters of the Ravi River can be seen; there is remarkable anatomical accuracy, psychological insight, and richness in Sanwala’s showing of distressed men and horses who seem to be in panic. The work, executed using opaque watercolor and gold on a sheet of paper utilizes mineral colors as pigments to invoke texture and contrast. In the work, earthy colors in dark hues (like reds) and yellows have been artistically combined with icy hues of blues, grays, and white of the river. The artist has displayed skills in his fine use of brush allowing the reader to observe water droplets, creases of the fabric of the robe and dignitaries portrayed in the art.
Unlike the traditions of the manuscripts that were followed by the Persians, the Akbari tradition follows a combination of the Western method of perspective and Indian traditions of painting. Most importantly, the artist has tried to recreate a historical event in an unplanned, emotional, and authentic way.
The miniature creates a striking tension between imperial spectatorship and human vulnerability. Akbar’s elevated position on the riverbank contrasts sharply with the two men struggling within the turbulent water, separating the secure realm of imperial observation from the physical danger below. The river dominates the composition as an unpredictable force: its flowing surface interrupts the ordered structures of the court and renders human bodies suddenly fragile. Akbar’s act of watching is therefore significant—the scene shifts away from the conventional celebration of heroic intervention and instead makes observation itself the subject. The episode can consequently be read as a meditation on the limits of human control, even within an imperial world where the emperor normally appears as the figure who commands both people and landscape.
