The Birth of Akbar

A Leaf from the ‘Third’ Akbarnama
Mughal, 1595-1600
Opaque pigments and gold on paper
Painting: 32.5 x 19.5 cm
Folio: 36 x 24 cm

This remarkable folio leaf comes from the third known manuscript of the historical three-volume Akbar Nama (Book of Akbar), commissioned by the third Mughal Emperor Akbar and written by the court historian and biographer Abu’l-Fazl ibn Mubarak in the late 16th century. The third manuscript is thought to have belonged to Akbar’s mother, Hamida Banu Begum and, according to the renowned scholar Linda York Leach, was probably painted after Akbar’s own series, between 1595 and 1600.

The leaf, which illustrates in remarkable chromatic the birth of Akbar (Abu’l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar), in effect comes from the first volume of Akbarnama, which deals with the birth of Akbar (in 1542 A.D.) and his upbringing; the history of Timur’s family; and the reigns of Babur and Humayun and the Suri sultans of Delhi. Volume one of Akbarnama encompasses Akbar’s birth and his upbringings.

In the lower register of the painting, we observe Humayun, the second Mughal emperor and Akbar’s father, sitting on a splendid carpet of floral design and in consultation with attendants and religious advisers, one of whom reads from a holy book, as they welcome and celebrate the birth of Akbar. Humayun and his retinue are shown kneeling and sitting under a flowing awning and are dresses in traditional Mughal headwear and robes of sober chromatic. Outside the designated area of privileged access to the emperor, musicians are conducted as they play hand drums and a chordophone.

On the upper register of the painting, a remarkable series of vignettes depict the aftermath of Akbar’s birth: in the upper right, Akbar’s mother, Maryam Makani, is seen resting under a flowing white bedspread and being looked after by an attendant following the birth. Although she still wears a traditional head covering, she is shown in a natural state of undress following childbirth. Just below her private chamber, several nursemaids caress and look after the new emperor, shown swathed in a small white robe. To the left of this tableau, a group of women rejoice as they play musical instruments and dance in celebration at this momentous occasion while a group of women outside their quadrant share the welcome announcement.

The architecture of the painting is outstanding as various physical and emotional spaces are defined through geometry and chromatic variation; the cumulative effect of the human interaction is uplifting and greatly expressive of the most significant event in Mughal culture, the birth of the great emperor Akbar.

This page is one of more than twenty miniatures that have recently come to light from an important royal manuscript thought to have belonged to Akbar’s mother, Hamida Banu Begum. Scholars who have studied these paintings, in particular Leach, have identified the manuscript as a third royal Akbarnama.

The earliest Akbarnama manuscript is primarily in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, which has 116 miniatures. This first Akbarnama was painted around 1590-1595 and presented to the emperor as Abu’l Fazl was still working on the text. The Victoria and Albert Museum paintings deal with the middle years of Akbar’s reign (1560-1577). Though dateable to 1590-1595, the paintings are still in the style of the 1580s, full of vigour and excitement.

The second illustrated copy of the Akbarnama, commissioned early in the next century with the text brought up to date, is divided between the British Library in London, which owns 39 illustrations, and the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin, which has 66 paintings. This second Akbarnama is quite different in style from the first manuscript, more refined and less dynamic, with many of the pages lightly tinted rather than highly coloured like that of Akbar’s own copy. It was produced between 1602 and 1603, probably to commemorate the tragic assassination of Abu’l Fazl in 1602.

According to Leach in her study, “Pages from an Akbarnama”[1], the newly discovered third Akbarnama pages are related to the Victoria and Albert Museum’s highly coloured, dynamic illustrations and were probably painted after Akbar’s own series, between 1595 and 1600. Stylistically, this manuscript is closer to the first Akbarnama than the later one. Leach convincingly suggests several reasons for identifying the royal family member for whom this Akbarnama was commissioned as Hamida Banu Begum, Akbar’s mother.

Other notable differences in the ‘third’ Akbarnama, further according to Leach, are that the text is written in the conservative naskh script as opposed to the nasta‘liq used on the other two copies (Naskh is a script that Hamida is thought to have preferred); and it features a number of scenes centring on women and their activities, depicting them with unusual animation and intimacy, and showing scenes from the zenana that would have appealed to Hamida. Thirdly, several paintings such as the one above depict her husband Humayun in the context of much greater warmth, tenderness, and drama than his portrayals in the other Akbarnamas.

According to Leach in her study, “Pages from an Akbarnama”[2], the newly discovered third Akbarnama pages are related to the Victoria and Albert Museum’s highly coloured, dynamic illustrations and were probably painted after Akbar’s own series, between 1595 and 1600. Stylistically, this manuscript is closer to the first Akbarnama than the later one. Leach convincingly suggests several reasons for identifying the royal family member for whom this Akbarnama was commissioned as Hamida Banu Begum, Akbar’s mother.

Other notable differences in the ‘third’ Akbarnama, further according to Leach, are that the text is written in the conservative naskh script as opposed to the nasta‘liq used on the other two copies (Naskh is a script that Hamida is thought to have preferred); and it features a number of scenes centring on women and their activities, depicting them with unusual animation and intimacy, and showing scenes from the zenana that would have appealed to Hamida. Thirdly, several paintings such as the one above depict her husband Humayun in the context of much greater warmth, tenderness, and drama than his portrayals in the other Akbarnamas.

Few leaves from this rare ‘Third’ manuscript of the Akbarnama are known to exist. There is one folio in an institutional collection: The Cleveland Museum of Art, [Acc. No. 2003.38]. In addition to the present example, there are other folios in important private hands, such as the Cynthia Hazen Polsky Collection, New York.

In the lower margin, in the centre, can be seen an inscription in Persian in black naskh script.

 

Provenance:
An important private collection, UK, 1950s.

 

[1] Rosemary Crill, Susan Stronge and Andrew Topsfield (eds.), Arts of Mughal India: Studies in Honour of Robert Skelton, 2004, pp. 42-55.
[2] Rosemary Crill, Susan Stronge and Andrew Topsfield (eds.), Arts of Mughal India: Studies in Honour of Robert Skelton, 2004, pp. 42-55.

Join Our Mailing List

If you would like to stay up to date with exhibitions and everything else here at Prahlad Bubbar, enter your email below to join our mailing list