Painting

This illustration to the Akbarnama depicts the emperor Akbar greeting Rajput rulers and other nobles at court, probably in 1577.

The Akbarnama was commissioned by the emperor Akbar in 1589 as the official chronicle of his reign. It was written by his court historian and biographer Abu'l Fazl who finished the major part of the text by 1596. The illustrations were being painted as the historian drafted and rewrote his textby at least 49 different artists from Akbar's studio. After Akbar's death in 1605, this incomplete manuscript remained in the library of his son, Jahangir (r. 1605-1627), who recorded his ownership on the flyleaf, and later Shah Jahan (r. 1628-1658). The Victoria and Albert Museum purchased it in 1896 from Mrs Frances Clarke, the widow of Major-General John Clarke, who acquired it in Lucknow while serving as Commissioner of Oudh between 1858 and 1862.