Khojasta talking to the parrot

late 16th century · Painting · 25 × 16 cm

Can I see it?

Not on view at present

Where is “Khojasta talking to the parrot” 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: 15 days ago
In this state since: Sep 25, 2026
Source: The museum

On the map Museum page

About the painting

This is a detached folio from a copy of the Tuti Nama, or Tales of a Parrot. It was originally written in 1330, in Persian, by Ziya al-Din Nakhshabi who based it on older Persian stories. The manuscript to which this belonged was probably the copy of the text commissioned by the Mughal emperor Akbar (r.1556-1605) in about 1580, and broken up by the early 20th century. The tales are those told by a parrot to its mistress Khojasta, to entrance her and prevent her from visiting a lover during the absence of her husband, who was a merchant.

Read on

In the early 19th century, the manuscript which was then intact belonged to General Jean Francois Allard, a French general employed by the Sikh maharaja Ranjit Singh in the Panjab. Allard lived in India for almost twenty years, and probably acquired the manuscript in Lahore. On his return to France, he gave the volume to his friend, the bibliophile Baron Felix Sebastien Feuillet de Conches. At some point the manuscript was broken up, with a large part of the text and 102 paintings acquired by Sir Alfred Chester Beattyin 1937 for his library in Dublin, where they remain. At least 54 more paintings were circulating in the art market at the same time. The V&A bought this painting in 1966.

Victoria and Albert Museum