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Folio from a Ta'rikh-i Alfi Manuscript: Death of a Prisoner

About 1585

India, Uttar Pradesh, Lahore area

Opaque watercolor and ink on paper

H. 16 x W. 8 5/8 in. (40.6 x 21.9 cm)

Asia Society, New York: Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection, 1979.56

Provenance

John D. Rockefeller 3rd, New York, NY; acquired from The Heeramaneck Gallery, New York, NY, 1970.

The Asia Society, New York, NY, bequest of John D. Rockefeller 3rd, 1979.

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The Ta'rikh-i Alfi (History of a Thousand Years) is one of the many works of history and literature commissioned by the Mughal emperor Akbar (reigned 1556 - 1605) and illustrated at his court. A new history of the Islamic world, the manuscript was intended to encompass everything that had happened to Islam since the birth of the prophet Mohammed ca. 570 C.E. The long text on this page records events that occurred during the caliphate of al-Ma'mun, focusing on the struggles for political power that occurred between 815 and 816. It is possible that the scene in the center of the painting, which shows a barely clothed prisoner with shackled legs lying in a courtyard, alludes to a mention in the text of the stoning to death for insubordination of al-Ma'mun's opponent, Yahya b. Amir. The vignettes around the border of the painting may refer to the political unrest that plagued the period. Numerous male figures are shown talking agitatedly and meeting in doorways and gardens, suggesting intrigue and unrest. Translation of the text: must be in object file