The Decapitation of Khan Jahan Lodi

Abid’s The Death of Khan Jahan Lodi, ca. 1633, for the Padshahnama, depicts the savage aftermath of the defeat of Khan Jahan Lodi, a nobleman who revolted against the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. The center of the composition features Lodi’s dead body on the ground, with a soldier bending over him, and another soldier holding his severed head. Other heads are scattered in the foreground, and there is no mistaking the violence of the scene. A group of soldiers is surrounding the execution and others in the background are standing with weapons and horses, giving the impression of an army gathered around the triumphant moment. The composition is divided into different levels by the rocky landscape, high horizon and chinar tree, which gives great depth to the scene. Abid also pays extraordinary attention to the details of clothing, armour, weapons, horses and jewellery, creating a striking contrast between the refined beauty of Mughal painting and the disturbing violence being represented. The painting can be viewed as more than a record of an execution. It displays the destruction of Lodi as a public display of imperial power. His head, and those of his companions, was to be sent to Shah Jahan to be put on display as a warning to other would-be rebels. The absence of the emperor from the scene is therefore significant as the authority of the emperor is experienced through the soldiers acting in his name. The same connection is indicated again by the inscription on the sleeve of one soldier, which reads him as a follower of Shah Jahan. Abid’s detailed description of blood, severed heads and the reactions of the soldiers makes the consequences of rebellion feel physically immediate. At the same time, the composition is carefully arranged and the details are luxurious, so that the scene does not become just chaotic. So the painting combines beauty and brutality, offering Mughal victory as an arresting spectacle of imperial power and a disquieting reminder of the violence through which that power was secured.