Mangat, Sahej. “Essay: Mu'nim Khan and Khwaja Jahan interceding with Akbar.” In The Akbarnama: A Digital Art History Student Project, April 4, 2018. .
This illustration made by Basawan and Mah Muhammad in 1565, captures a scene in the occurrence of a rebellion against Akbar, a Mughal emperor. Akbar wrote about his endeavours in the Akbarnama where he depicted the rebellion to have manifested due to envy felt by Quli Khan, Sikander Khan and others. Akbar and other royalists were elephant-hunting during the rise of the rebellion and intended to deal with the matter on their return (Beveridge 375). This image situated Akbar meeting with his advisors, militant members and common men of the empire to formulate a plan in halting the rebellion.
In this scene, Akbar is positioned in the top right of the image where sits cross-legged on his heightened throne. Akbar’s throne is decorated with different patterns of intricate tapestries that only the richest and most high class of people could afford in this era. Wearing a traditional yellow outfit, Akbar is depicted comfortably sitting on this throne while listening to various royalist advise him on the plan of action against the rebellion. Akbar’s surroundings signify the power allocated to him by his royalist as they are all positioned facing him. To Akbar’s left, his loyal retainers are standing fanning their ruler and at the ready to satisfy any of his requests. To Akbar’s right present to counsel their ruler and take his order are his ‘right-hand men’, more notably Akbar’s royal advisors. They create the sense of loyalty and trust between Akbar and those who closely surround him. The rest of the image depicts men in similar clothing making them indistinguishable to the class they belong to, as some may be soldiers or commoners.
Mu’nim Khan, positioned to the right of Akbar in the image, was a loyal advisor to the Mughal empire. He was a Turani noble to the Mughal emperors Humayun and Akbar. In 1553, he was first employed as the principal advisor, ‘atalik’. Later in 1560, Mu’nim Khan was employed as the principal minister, ‘Wakil’, containing the title of ‘Khan’I Khanan’ (Athar Ali).
Mu’nim Khan, wearing a blue outfit, plays the role of the militant advisor, instructing Akbar in the manner in which to deal with the rebellion. Their relationship is built on the foundation of trust as Mu’nim Khan had been a loyalist to the Mughal empire during his lifetime, which included Akbar’s father’s rule. Thus, Akbar orders Mu’nim Khan to set up a campsite for the army. Mu’nim Khan was to wait and greet Akbar at his arrival, then they would enter war together. In this sense, Akbar’s orders to entrust Mu’nim Khan in dealing with the rebellion was allocated from a place of respect.
Khawaja Khan can be noted as another royal advisor to Akbar, that must aid in halting this rebellion. The plan of action against the rebellion was rendered together by Mu’nim Khan and Khawaja Khan as they took Akbar’s orders to set up an army.
The men, surrounding Akbar in the image, set the tone for the scene as they are depicted sporadically standing with varying actions and expressions. The meeting was called to address the rebellion at a rise and the men are signified as members employed by the Mughal emperor, Akbar, to aid the situation. The expressions and actions the men portray a form of anxiety and haste in formulating a plan. At the centre, Akbar deals with all the chaos between the advisors, soldiers and common men. While it is difficult to distinguish between the advisors, soldiers and common men as they are all dressed in the same form of clothing, the positioning of each man is significant.
The men closest to Akbar can be noted as the royal advisors as they are positioned directly to his right. This includes Mu’nim Khan, who is well-known for his loyalty to the Mughal empire and Khawaja Khan. Since they stand so close, it can be perceived as the royal advisors carrying closer and stronger relationship with Akbar, in comparison to other men in the image. This relationship has allowed the royal advisors to have Akbar’s ear when dealing with matters of militant or political values, in this case, a rebellion.
The common men can be noted as the men that look towards Akbar with neutral expressions and actions. The various men alongside the image do not portray any significant opinions on the matter, rather merely wait and listen for their ruler. The common men can also be depicted as the two men, to the left of Akbar, fanning their ruler. They reflect a sense of loyalty to Akbar as they are also signified as waiting for their ruler to make a request.
The soldiers are presumed to be the men in the bottom half of the image as they are stationed with active expressions of movement. The soldiers can be distinguished by those carrying swords on their side as if ready for battle. The men look up to Akbar, as they wait for the orders in their plan of action against the rebellion. The soldiers are also depicted sitting upon the elephants as a form of encouragement of war.
Akbar is often noted to have a personal obsession with elephants, which results in its portrayal in many forms of literature and art, such as this image. Akbar’s kept nearly 101 elephants for his personal use on any occasion (Das 1999, 36). This can be interpreted as the elephants were kept as pets, battles or even elephants fighting that frequently occurred in the Mughal era. In this image, the elephants are presented to Akbar as ready for the batter against the rebellion. The man dressed in orange, presumably a soldier, points to the elephants while looking to Akbar. The elephants are dressed with intricately made headdress and body armour, which can be perceived as reflecting the tradition in this era. The elephants would be decorated according to the task the elephant was to conduct, in this case, battle. As the soldier sat upon their elephants, they are seen an encourage for their ruler to enter the war against the rebellion. Akbar’s fascination with elephants, it is easy for Akbar to construct his royal advisors to prepare an army for battle.
Akbar had ultimately given orders to Mu’nim Khan and Khawaja Khan to prepare war equipment and formulate the army. After the battle arrangements were made, Mu’nim Khan greeted Akbar upon his arrival at the campsite and together they travelled ahead. When news came that one of the rebels, Sikander Khan had established himself in a city called, Jaunpur, the royal army followed. However, the rebels had fled when they heard about the incoming royal army. Consequently, Akbar had the power to conquer the palace in Jaunpur (Beveridge 375-8), which allowed the royal army to settled down and rest from the on-going rebellion.
Jaunpur is a city located Uttar Pradesh, India. The original creators of the palace were Delhi Sultanates, under the Tughluq empire. The palace was eventually conquered by the Mughal emperor, Akbar as he was led there following the rebellion. Many aspects of the palace in Jaunpur were destroyed during the various period of war (Shokoohy), nevertheless, the Mughal empire restored features of the palace. Mu’nim Khan played a leading role in conducting the royal army, so Akbar had given the power to restructure the palace as well. The intentions were to keep the local characteristic of the Jaunpur culture, though Mu’nim Khan reflected the spread of technology during this time by adding an imperial touch (Asher 284). Mu’nim Khan is interpreted to have gained a certain level of power and respect as one Akbar’s primary advisors. This painting is meant to signify the power Akbar had in Mughal era as the royal advisors, militant members and common men surround him while the men wait for the orders in addressing the rebellion.