Famous Books During the Mughal Empire

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Mughal gouache painting on paper (c. 1740, Murshidabad school, heightened with gold): elderly bearded teacher in white robes seated on terrace instructing young princess in red-gold attire practicing calligraphy, with two princes and lady-in-waiting around ink pot and writing tools, blue-green background.

Traditional Indian miniature painting showing a prince arriving by boat with attendants and elephants to visit the poet-saint Tulsidas, who is seated and teaching disciples near a riverside pavilion, while multiple narrative scenes unfold in palace courtyards above.

Mughal miniature painting showing Brahmin priests performing a fire sacrifice around a ritual altar as the warrior Dhrishtadyumna emerges from the flames in armour, while attendants and observers gather inside a pavilion.

Mughal Emperor Akbar receives the Akbarnama

Open manuscript of the Ain-i-Akbari from c. 1822, showing two richly illustrated pages with Mughal-style miniature paintings one depicting a royal figure on horseback with attendants, and the other showing a figure riding an elephant framed by ornate gold decorative borders.

Mughal miniature painting showing Emperor Jahangir weighing Prince Khurram on a ceremonial balance during his sixteenth birthday celebration, surrounded by courtiers and attendants

Mughal miniature painting showing Emperor Shah Jahan seated on a balcony in a richly decorated palace, receiving courtiers and nobles gathered below in an imperial court scene.

Open manuscript pages of Majma-ul-Bahrain by Dara Shikoh, showing handwritten text from the manuscript collection of the Victoria Memorial.

Famous Books During the Mughal Empire: Media

Images

Mughal gouache painting on paper (c. 1740, Murshidabad school, heightened with gold): elderly bearded teacher in white robes seated on terrace instructing young princess in red-gold attire practicing calligraphy, with two princes and lady-in-waiting around ink pot and writing tools, blue-green background.

The art of writing

A princess and other pupils learning the art of calligraphy from a mullah (religious...

© The Picture Art Collection/Alamy

The Baburnama

The Baburnama

Meeting between Babur and the sultan Ali Mirza near Samarkand (now in Uzbekistan),...

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, (Louis V. Bell Fund, 1967), www.metmuseum.org

Traditional Indian miniature painting showing a prince arriving by boat with attendants and elephants to visit the poet-saint Tulsidas, who is seated and teaching disciples near a riverside pavilion, while multiple narrative scenes unfold in palace courtyards above.

Tulsidas

A painting of a royal figure paying respect to the poet-saint Tulsidas.

© Historic Collection/Alamy

Mughal miniature painting showing Brahmin priests performing a fire sacrifice around a ritual altar as the warrior Dhrishtadyumna emerges from the flames in armour, while attendants and observers gather inside a pavilion.

Birth of Dhrishtadyumna in the Razmnama

An illustration from the Razmnama depicting the fire sacrifice performed...

© Heritage Images—Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Humayun

Humayun

A painting of Humayun on horseback, c. 17th century; in the Metropolitan Museum of...

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, (Theodore M. Davis Collection, Bequest of Theodore M. Davis, 1915), www.metmuseum.org

Mughal Emperor Akbar receives the Akbarnama

Mughal Emperor Akbar receives the Akbarnama

Abul Fazl presents the Akbarnama to Akbar.

© Dinodia Photos/Alamy

Open manuscript of the Ain-i-Akbari from c. 1822, showing two richly illustrated pages with Mughal-style miniature paintings one depicting a royal figure on horseback with attendants, and the other showing a figure riding an elephant framed by ornate gold decorative borders.

The Āʾīn-e Akbarī

Manuscript of the Āʾīn-e Akbarī, produced in Lahore (now in Pakistan),1822.

© Auk Archive/Alamy

Mughal miniature painting showing Emperor Jahangir weighing Prince Khurram on a ceremonial balance during his sixteenth birthday celebration, surrounded by courtiers and attendants

Jahangir and Prince Khurram

Mughal miniature from an illustrated copy of Jahangir's memoirs depicting the emperor...

© Werner Forman/Universal Images Group—Hulton Fine Art Collection/Getty Images

Mughal miniature painting showing Emperor Shah Jahan seated on a balcony in a richly decorated palace, receiving courtiers and nobles gathered below in an imperial court scene.

Shah Jahan in the Padshahnama

Portrait of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan from the Padshahnama, painted...

© Fine Art Images/Heritage Images—Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Open manuscript pages of Majma-ul-Bahrain by Dara Shikoh, showing handwritten text from the manuscript collection of the Victoria Memorial.

Majma-ul-Bahrain manuscript

A page from Majma-ul-Bahrain, Dara Shikoh's work on comparative religion,...

© The Picture Art Collection/Alamy

Aurangzeb

Portrait of Aurangzeb, later Emperor Alamgir, likely painted during his tenure as...

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Howard Hodgkin Collection, Purchase, Florence and Herbert Irving Acquisitions, Harris Brisbane Dick, and 2020 Benefit Funds; Howard S. and Nancy Marks, Lila Acheson Wallace, and Friends of Islamic Art Gifts; Louis V. Bell,

Opening folio of the Zafarnama manuscript prepared by Bhai Daya Singh, showing Persian calligraphy in columns with an ornate floral arch and decorative illuminated borders, containing the composition of Guru Gobind Singh.

A manuscript of the Zafarnama

Opening folio of a manuscript copy of the Zafarnama, prepared by Bhai Daya...

© Cab Image/Alamy

Zeb-un-Nissa

Portrait of Zeb-un-Nissa holding a flower.

© Piemags/Alamy

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