Mu'nim Khan Flees to Kabul
| Support Type: | Paper |
| Paint Type: | Watercolor |
| Current Location: | Victoria and Albert Museum, London |
| Location History: | The painting was originally part of the imperial Akbarnama manuscript commissioned for Emperor Akbar and kept in the Mughal royal collection. It subsequently passed through the imperial collections of Jahangir and Shah Jahan. In the nineteenth century, the manuscript came into the possession of Major-General John Clarke in India and later passed to his widow, Frances Clarke. In 1896, the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, acquired the manuscript from her, and the folio remains in the museum's collection today. |
The Arrest of Mu'nim Khan during his Flight from Kabul, from the Akbarnama, depicts a dramatic political episode from the early years of Akbar's reign. Designed by Jagan and painted by Naman around 1592–95, the miniature illustrates the capture of Mu'nim Khan while fleeing Kabul in 1562. Rather than presenting the event as a static historical record, the artists create a scene filled with movement and tension. The composition is organised around the confrontation between the mounted figures. Horses overlap and move in different directions, while the gestures and postures of the men communicate the confusion and urgency of the arrest. The rocky, uneven landscape further contributes to this sense of instability. Jagan uses diagonals and changes in ground level to guide the viewer through the action, while the carefully observed horses, costumes and individual figures demonstrate the growing naturalism characteristic of Akbar-period painting. Bands of Persian text incorporated along the right side also maintain the image's relationship with the written narrative. Beyond documenting Mu'nim Khan's arrest, the painting can be interpreted within the larger political purpose of the Akbarnama. The manuscript transformed events from Akbar's reign into an imperial history that emphasised the maintenance of political order. Here, rebellion and flight are ultimately brought under control. The capture of an important noble therefore demonstrates the reach of Mughal authority even in distant Kabul. At the same time, the crowded and energetic composition makes imperial history immediate and visually engaging. The work is consequently both a narrative illustration and part of a broader construction of Akbar's image as the centre of a powerful and ordered empire. Provenance and current location: The folio formed part of Akbar's imperial Akbarnama and subsequently remained in the Mughal royal library under Jahangir and Shah Jahan. Major-General John Clarke acquired the manuscript in India while Commissioner of Oudh (1858–62); the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, purchased it from his widow, Frances Clarke, in 1896, where it remains today.