Adham Khan and Akbar
Can I see it?
Not on view at present
Where is “Adham Khan and Akbar” now? Collection: Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Not on view at present. Checked September 25, 2026.
London, United Kingdom
It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the painting
This illustration by the Mughal court artist Khem Karan is an illustration from the Akbarnama (Book of Akbar). It depicts Adham Khan, who had been given charge of an expedition to conquer Malwa in north central India for his foster-brother, the Mughal emperor Akbar (r.1556–1605). Adham Khan is shown submissively paying homage to Akbar at Sarangpur in 1561, following his attempts to subvert the emperor’s authority.
Read on
The Akbarnama was commissioned by Akbar as the official chronicle of his reign. It was written in Persian by his court historian and biographer, Abu’l Fazl, between 1590 and 1596, and the V&A’s partial copy of the manuscript is thought to have been illustrated between about 1592 and 1595. This is thought to be the earliest illustrated version of the text, and drew upon the expertise of some of the best royal artists of the time. Many of these are listed by Abu’l Fazl in the third volume of the text, the A’in-i Akbari, and some of these names appear in the V&A illustrations, written in red ink beneath the pictures, showing that this was a royal copy made for Akbar himself. After his death, the manuscript remained in the library of his son Jahangir, from whom it was inherited by Shah Jahan.
The V&A purchased the manuscript in 1896 from Frances Clarke, the widow of Major General John Clarke, who bought it in India while serving as Commissioner of Oudh between 1858 and 1862.
Victoria and Albert Museum
Details
- Accession number
- IS.2:15-1896
What it shows
In the catalog
Sources
- Victoria and Albert Museum
- Image: Victoria and Albert Museum — © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
