Babur meeting the Khurasan Mirzas
| Support Type: | Paper |
| Paint Type: | Watercolor |
| Current Location: | Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in London |
| Location History: | S.A.A Rizvi, in Religious and Intellectual History of the Muslims in Akbar's Reign (Delhi, 1975, 220-221), notes: The Babur Nama, in Chaghta'i Turkish, a mine of information relating to Central Asia, Kabul and India, was of an absorbing interest for the Indian Timurids. The portions relating to the Indian period of Babur's autobiography had already been translated by his sadr, Zainu'd Din Khwafi, into Persian. In 994/1584 Mirza Payandah Hasan Ghaznavi commenced its translation at the insistence of Bihruz Khan (who was afterwards given the title of Naurang Khan by Akbar and died as a governor of Junahgarh in 1002/1593-94), but he could not translate the account beyond the first sixth and a part of the seventh year. Subsequently one Muhammad Quli Mughal HIsari continued the work and brought it down to 935/1528-29. Akbar ordered Mirza 'Abdu'r Rahim Khan-i Khanan to translate it again and he completed the work in 998/1589. He presented his translation to the Emperor as he was returning from Kabul on 24 November 1589. The Khan-i Khanan excelled all the previous translators. Purchased from Messrs luzac & Co., 46 Great Russell Street. This acquisition information reflects that found in the Museum records (Asia Department registers and/or Central Inventory) as part of a 2023 provenance research project. |
This tiny book page is one of the illustrated pages in an illustrated copy of "The Baburnama," Babur's memoirs, and was made at the royal workshop of Akbar around 1590. The Victoria & Albert Museum cites Isma'il Kashmiri as the artist who painted this scene, which depicts Babur's meeting with the Khurasan Mirzas in the tents of Badi'al-Zaman. The event occurred in October of 1506, when the last of the Timurid Kings, Sultan Husayn Bayqara, died while feeding himself and his army against the Uzbek conqueror Shaybani Khan. After the death of Husayn, his sons and the Uzbek princes met with Babur at Badi'l-Zaman's location to make an alliance. This alliance was quickly followed by a banquet, but was ultimately too weak to prevent the Uzbeks from capturing Herat a year later. Akbar commissioned the Persian translation while Khan-I Khanan was in Kabul, and in 1589 after Akbar returned from Afghanistan with Khan-I Khanan, he presented the translation to Akbar and commissioned painted copies for the imperial library. The V&A obtained this page from the dealer Luzac & Co. between 1912 and 1913 after the entire original album was dispersed. The original page is painted using opaque watercolors and gold on paper and represents the Persian-influenced Mughal style of the period, which consists of flattened spatial arrangements (with a divided horizon), jewel colors, patterned textiles, and an increasing use of naturalism in Mughal painting.