Sultan Ibrahim Adil Shah II Riding His Prized Elephant, Atash Khan

This is a small painting of Sultan Ibrahim Adil Shah II, the ruler of Bijapur, sitting on his favourite elephant, Atash Khan. It is attributed to Farrukh Beg, an artist who was born in Persia. Farrukh Beg worked in the Mughal region before he joined the sultan's court in Bijapur around 1590. This painting was made around the year 1600. The elephant is very important in this picture. Ibrahim was not only a king, he also loved music and poetry. He wrote songs in a book called the Kitab-i Nauras, and in these songs he praised his elephant Atash Khan, his musical instrument Moti Khan, and his cities Bijapur and Nauraspur. So this painting is like a picture version of those songs. It shows love for the elephant as much as respect for the sultan. The elephant dressed in rich clothes, and his tusks have golden bands with jewels on them. The painting is very small & only about 14 cm by 10 cm. It is made with gouache, which is a type of opaque watercolour, and gold on paper. Farrukh Beg did not care much about real perspective. He cared more about making the surface look rich and pretty. His style is mixes Persian, Mughal and Deccani ideas. The page has green and cream borders with gold flecks. On the back there is another painting, a Mughal one, of a man with a falcon riding a horse made of many shapes. Later, another Bijapur painting called Saraswati Enthroned also referred to this picture on the top panel of its arch.