Essay

The Akbarnama or “The book of Akbar”, is a well-known chronicle of the life of the Mughal emperor Akbar. It was written by Abul Fazl and commissioned by Akbar himself. Along with the Akbarnama comes many paintings created to depict scenes within the Akbarnama, which is where one would come across the painting of Mirza Sulayman. This paper will discuss the painting itself, and the story that lead to the painting.

First it is important to have an understanding of the Mughal empire itself. It began in 1526 with Babur being the first emperor. They were predominantly Muslim, and their religion added to the beautiful architecture and art that continues to be marveled at to this day. It was an absolute monarchy, which is why the title of emperor was always passed down to the son. Akbar’s reign is one of the more popular reigns of the Mughal Empire, which is why he was known as Akbar the Great. The empire had control over the majority of the Indian subcontinent and many parts of Afghanistan, which is where the following story of Mirza Sulayman takes place.(V&A)

The painting was created by a Mughal court artist named Bhagwan, and interestingly enough the faces were painted another artist, Madhav.(V&A) It was created in 1590-1595 and was Painted in opaque watercolour and gold on paper. The painting shows the flee of Mirza Sulayman from the Mughal army after his attempt at capturing Kabul, which is now present-day Afghanistan.(V&A) With its rich colours and beautiful detail, it is quite simple to see the expressions on faces of the people in this painting.

Mirza Sulayman was the son of Khan Mirza, the ruler of Badakhshan. Upon his death, Mirza Sulayman was the next heir of Badakhshan, but was a minor so Babur’s son, Humayun, took rule until his time came. (Domesticity and Power) After losing and regaining Badakhshan, it was Mirza Sulayman’s intent of taking control over all of Kabul, which was in the hands of Akbar’s brother, Mirza Hakim. This would prove to be a rather difficult feat, and in the end, he is seen on his horse with his men, fleeing.(history of civilization)

Mughals and Mirza’s often were at battle with each other for some reason or another. Mirza Sulayman’s plan of attack was to place his men in various areas of the country, including Jalalabad. One of his greater men, Qambar, was placed in Jalalabad awaiting the arrival of the Mughal army. In an unfortunate event, Qambar was decapitated and his head was sent to Kabul, where Mirza Sulayman was, to alert them that Jalalabad had been captured and that Sulayman was in fact losing the battle. He very much wanted the news to be false, and even with hard evidence, he still told his men the news was not real. The Akbarnama reads as the following “Though M. Sulaiman was disconcerted by the capture of Jalalabad and the noise of the approaching army, yet he comforted his panic-stricken men by declaring the news to be false.” With every attempt at calming his men with the news that Jalalabad had been taken, they still had a very important decision to make. His wife, Haram Bagam, was known to be a decision maker of her own. Although he wished to stay and battle, Haram Bagam and Sulayman eventually decided to get on their horses and leave before it was too late. In the end which is what is depicted in this scene, they decide to flee. In the painting that depicts this scene, it is quite visible the reactions of the people involved. On one side you have the men of Mirza Sulayman who appear to be panic stricken and trying to flee as their life depends on it. On the other side you have the men of Kabul who have now been freed, and they play the drums in celebration of the departure of Mirza Sulayman.An excellent quote in the Akbarnama describes the scene quite nicely. “ When the news of the favour and of the helping hand of H.M the Shahinshah, and of the capture of Jalalabad reached Kabul, the sound of joy rose high, and the head of Qambar was made an ornament to the battlements.”(Akbarnama)

The Mughal Empire was vast and intricate and amazing art came along with it. They were often painted as miniature illustrations. Based on the illustrations and paintings, the expressions of the people within the paintings are always extremely clear, usually an exaggerated emotion. The paintings are often fluid and bright, with many colours within them, sometimes not even the natural colour of things. The Akbarnama's paintings were very expressive and painted, literally, a story of war, hardship, happiness, and every other emotion that one could think of. The painting of Mirza Sulayman in particular has a very fluid motion about it, where the rocks are flowing into one another and some of the colours do not make sense. The paintings for the Akbarnama are beautiful to say the least, and hold a very important story of the past.