Mariam Makani

ca. 1590-95 · Painting · 33 × 20 cm

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Victoria and Albert Museum

London, Vereinigtes Königreich

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Geprüft: vor 9 Tagen
Unverändert seit: 25. Sept. 2026
Quelle: Sammlungsdaten des Museums selbst

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About the painting

This painting from the official history of Akbar's reign depicts the royal ladies travelling from Delhi to

Agra by river. It is related to IS.2:3-1896 which shows several boats including that of the emperor making the same journey in December 1560, and was painted by Tulsi and Durga for the presentation volume. The presence of the women is not explicitly stated in the chronicle, but would have been automatic. Only one of them is visible, perhaps the guardian of the zanana, or women's quarters, in the palaces. The others are concealed inside the curtained structures on each boat. The two-tier structure carried on the boat at the centre of the composition may well have carried Akbar's mother, its importance emphasised by its extra tier and by the red curtains, the colour emblematic of royalty.

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The Akbarnama (Book of Akbar) was commissioned by the emperor Akbar as the official chronicle of his reign. It was written by his court historian and biographer Abu'l Fazl between 1590 and 1596 and is thought to have been illustrated between c. 1592 and 1594 by at least forty-nine different artists from Akbar's studio. After Akbar's death in 1605, the manuscript remained in the library of his son, Jahangir (r. 1605-1627) 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 Clarke, an official who had been the Commissioner in Oudh province between 1858 and 1862.

Victoria and Albert Museum