British Library, London, United Kingdom (Shelfmark / Inventory Number: Or. 12076, folio 26v)
Location History:
Produced in India at a sub-imperial Mughal workshop around 1598–1599 CE (AH 1007). The manuscript folio later entered the private collection of Gerald Reitlinger before being acquired by the British Museum in 1954. It was subsequently transferred to the permanent Oriental Manuscripts collection of the British Library.
Arjuna, bare-chested in a yellow dhoti, leans in and grips the head of a white horse that has become fixed to a rocky hillside. A man in orange stands at the horse’s side. Behind them the other Pandavas wait in a row on the right, with soldiers, chariots and two elephants packed along the bottom of the page. Overhead, four gods float on cloud seats, which the British Library identifies as Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva and Indra. The rocks are pink, lilac and grey, and a line of Persian script runs under the picture.
A note on the title: “Arjuna and his men attempt to free the white horse from the rock” is the caption on the Wikipedia page. The library’s own catalogue says Arjuna trying to free the horse from the rock watched by the other Pandavas. Both describe the same painting.
The story of this horse is to the ashvamedha yagya, this royal horse sacrifice that Yudhishthira performs to declare his rule. It roaming freely while Arjuna and his army follow, and any kingdom it enters must submit or fight. A horse that cannot move halts the whole campaign. A museum note on a related painting from another Razmnama says the horse was lost in the Vindhya mountains and then found again by Arjuna, his four brothers and Krishna.
The painting is credited to Banwari Khurd. He also painted f. 95r in the same manuscript. The V&A holds another leaf from the book under the name Banwari the Younger. I found no biography, so his training and family remain unknown to me. The book’s 24 paintings were shared among 21 artists, which points to workshop teamwork.
Other leaves from the same manuscript are recorded as opaque watercolour and gold on paper. One picture agency says “vellum”, but the museum records disagree, so I’d go with paper.
The Razmnama is a Persian translation of the Mahabharata, and its name means roughly “book of war”. The British Museum says Akbar commissioned it as part of a push to make Persian the court language. The V&A adds that it let Persian-speaking courtiers read Hindu scripture. This copy is classed as sub-imperial, meaning it sits close to the emperor’s workshop without being one of his own books.
Meaning: This is my own reading. The stuck horse puts Yudhishthira’s claim to kingship at risk, the gods signal heavenly approval for the Pandavas, and the crowd makes the setback a public one. The sources I found don’t record how Mughal viewers read the scene.
This folio, created by Banwari Khurd, is from the Razmnama, a Persian translation of the Mahabharata commissioned by Akbar. It depicts Arjuna attempting to free a horse trapped between rocks, while his brothers, the Pandavas, and the soldiers on foot, elephants, and chariots look on. Above them, the Hindu deities Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva, along with Indra, observe the scene from their lotus thrones in the sky.
The scene depicts an episode in which Arjuna desperately tries to free the royal horse participating in the Ashvamedha Yajna performed by Yudhishthra to consolidate his rule. The painting captures the tension surrounding this moment, as the horse's inability to proceed threatens to bring the ritual to a halt. If the sacrifice cannot be completed, Yudhishthra's claim to kingship could be placed at risk. Meanwhile, the gods look down upon the scene, seemingly blessing the campaign and the ritual as events unfold.
