mughal
Akbarnama (c. 1590–1596 CE) — Workshop of Basawan and others
The Akbarnama (Book of Akbar), official history of Emperor Akbar's reign, text by Abu'l Fazl ibn Mubarak, illustrated by the Mughal imperial atelier under court supervision, c. 1590–1596 CE. Victoria and Albert Museum, London (IM 117-1921, etc.). The most ambitious illustrated Mughal manuscript: 116 full-page double miniatures by over 49 painters. The V&A set is the primary surviving copy.
Scholarly Significance
Anchor Mughal imperial manuscript tradition with the Akbarnama — the official history of Akbar's reign, the largest and most ambitious Mughal illustrated manuscript project.
Notes
- ·The Akbarnama is the official biography and history of Emperor Akbar (r.1556–1605), commissioned by Akbar himself and written by his friend and court intellectual Abu'l Fazl.
- ·The V&A set contains 116 double-page paintings (each composed of two facing folios, left and right, creating a single panoramic composition). The 49 contributing painters include Basawan, Miskina, Dharm Das, Mukund, and others — the full roster of the imperial atelier.
- ·The paintings are innovative in Mughal art: dynamic, panoramic compositions showing battle, court ceremony, construction projects, elephant fights, and hunting scenes at large scale. The compositions use a tilted, elevated viewpoint allowing many simultaneous actions.
- ·Basawan's contributions are considered the finest; he developed a distinctive integration of European spatial recession and Mughal pictorial energy.
- ·The Akbarnama illustrates key events of Akbar's reign: the siege of Chitor (1567), the conquest of Bengal, the building of Fatehpur Sikri, and many administrative and ceremonial events.
- ·Abu'l Fazl was murdered in 1602 on the order of Prince Salim (later Jahangir). The Akbarnama text was completed before this event.