ManuscriptsIndian17th-18th century

Rustam Captures Rakhsh (text recto; painting verso of folio 72), Illustrated folio from a manuscript of the Shahnama by Firdawsi

17th-18th century

Description

This manuscript is the first volume of a two-volume Shahnama by Firdawsi with further Shahnama inspired interpolated texts from the Garshaspnama and the Barzunama. The manuscript has 325 folios and is copied in nastaliq script. There are two illuminated panels at the beginning of the prose and poetry sections of the Shahnama. There are 34 illustrations that appear to have been painted when the manuscript was copied and 26 simple style illustrations that can be dated to a later phase. Overall, based on the style of the illustrations, illumination, and the interpolated texts, the creation of the manuscript can be attributed to the late 17th-early 18th century in Kashmir, the northern region of India under Mughal control. Later in the 19th century, the incomplete manuscript was furnished with simple style illustrations and possibly with a new illuminated panel at the beginning of the text.

Classification

Manuscripts

Medium

Ink, colors, and gold on paper

Culture

Indian

Period

Mughal period

Century

17th-18th century

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Department

Department of Islamic & Later Indian Art

Dimensions

36.8 x 23.5 cm (14 1/2 x 9 1/4 in.)

Provenance

George McFadden, New York, (by 1987-1988), sold; to José M.Soriano, New York, (1988-2014), gift; to the Harvard Art Museums, 2014.

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