Painting

This is a portrait of a Sayyed, a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad. It was painted at Bijapur in about 1650. Bijapur was the capital of one of the Muslim Sultanates of the Deccan, in southern India, until its fort was captured and it was absorbed into the Mughal empire in 1686. An inscription on the back of the painting, dated 1691, records it as having been in the Treasury at Adoni in the Deccan, near Kurnool.