Asaf Khan
Can I see it?
Not on view at present
Where is “Asaf Khan” 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 painting by the Mughal court artists Kesav Kalan and Nar Singh shows Asaf Khan leading the Mughal forces in 1564 against Rani Durgavati, the ruler of the Gara Katanga, within the Gond tribal areas of Central India. Asaf Khan was vizier to the Mughal emperor Akbar (r.1556–1605) and a highly effective military leader. The female ruler, who was a courageous and renowned military leader, fell to Mughal forces after a fiercely contested battle, leading Akbar to admire her extraordinary bravery. This image is the left half of a double-page illustration, the right half being Museum no. IS.2:35-1896.
Read on
It is an illustration from the Akbarnama (Book of Akbar), commissioned by Akbar as the official chronicle of his reign. The Akbarnama 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.2:36-1896
What it shows
In the catalog
Sources
- Victoria and Albert Museum
- Image: Victoria and Albert Museum — © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
