Akbar and Asaf Khan

ca. 1590-95 · Painting · 33.6 × 19.9 cm

Can I see it?

Not on view at present

Where is “Akbar and Asaf Khan” now? Collection: Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Not on view at present. Checked September 25, 2026.

Victoria and Albert Museum

London, United Kingdom

It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.

Checked: 16 days ago
In this state since: Sep 25, 2026
Source: The museum

On the map Museum page

About the painting

This is the left side of a double-page composition from the Akbarnama (Book of Akbar) (the right half is Museum no. IS.2:51-1896). The overall composition was designed by Miskina, one of the greatest artists of the Mughal court, with the details on this half being painted by Bhagwan. Together, they depict the Mughal emperor Akbar (r.1556–1605) receiving spoils of war from his leading general Asaf Khan in Jaunpur in 1565. Akbar’s encampment is shown outside the walls of a fort on a river bank. The text specifies that Asaf Khan brought the rarities of the region for the emperor, and presented him with elephants, and fine horses from Iran and Turkey. These animals are depicted on the other side of the composition (IS.2:51-1896).

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