The Victoria and Albert AkbarnÃÂma or First Akbar-nÃÂma is the first illustrated manuscript of the Akbarnama, the history of the Mughal ruler Akbar and his ancestors from the pen of Abul Fazl. It is also the oldest copy of the Akbar-nÃÂma, which was written at almost the same time as this manuscript.
Even before Abul Fazl had completed his text, the already drafted chapters were copied by a calligrapher and illustrated in the royal studios. This haste meant that massive changes had to be made to the already illustrated manuscript following a revision of the work by the author. In order to be able to continue using the elaborately produced illuminations in the revised text version, text panels within the pictures and on their reverse sides had to be pasted over with the new wording. As a result, the illustrated pages of the manuscript in particular are unusually thick.
The first volume of this Akbar-nÃÂma is in the Golestan Palace in Tehran. The second volume, with 116 images depicting events during the period between 1560 and 1577, is now kept in the Victoria and Albert Museum under the inventory number I.S. 2-1896 1-117. About 20 detached illustrations are also distributed among various museums and collections worldwide.
There is no consensus among experts as to the exact dating of the illustrations. Due to their stylistic proximity to an illustrated history of Timur, the Tëmà «r-nÃÂma (âÂÂ1586), some place them in the period from 1586 to 1587, while others, due to the known time of composition of the Akbar-nÃÂma, assume a period of origin from 1590 to 1595.
The manuscript has no colophon. However, on the lower margin of folio 84/117 (image no. 169, verso) there is an informal note which reads: "completed at the command of ...(illegible)... in the month Day of the year 40". This refers to the 40th year of Akbar's reign, resulting in a date between December 10, 1595 and January 9, 1596. The text and images of the Victoria-and-Albert-Akbar-nÃÂma only cover the period from 1560 to 1577. In addition to this small inscription, several seals and handwritten annotations on the recto of the first folio Notes on the further whereabouts of the manuscript: Jahangir confirms in an autograph that he took over the work shortly after his accession to the throne and classifies this Akbar-nÃÂma as a particularly valuable manuscript of "first class second degree". Next, Aurangzeb had his seal affixed to the volume in 1668/69, after which the work disappeared from the imperial library at an unspecified date. Seals from 1766 and 1794 identify the Nawab of Rampur as the new owner. The further fate of the book can only be vaguely traced. Since the first volume of the Victoria-and-Albert-Akbar-nÃÂma is in the Golestan Palace, suggests that this volume arrived in Iran at some point after 1669. The second volume remained in India until it was discovered by Major General Clarke, who was a senior administrative officer in the province of Awadh from 1858 to 1862. His widow finally sold the manuscript to the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1896. The museum initially assumed that it was an illustrated ÃÂþën-i Akbarë. It was only when Henry Beveridge visited the museum in 1905 that he identified the manuscript as an Akbar-nÃÂma.
The fragmentary manuscript in the Victoria and Albert Museum comprises 273 folios with 116 illustrations and an illuminated frontispiece. Die Seiten haben eine GröÃÂe von 37,4 à24,7 cm, die Textfelder mit 25 Zeilen, beschrieben in Nastaÿlëq, messen 24 à13,4 cm. The pictures are on average about 32.5 à19.5 cm in size. At the time of its acquisition by the Victoria and Albert Museum, the manuscript had already partially disintegrated into its individual folios, which were loosely stored between two varnished book covers in a box. The 116 illustrations have been individually framed so that they can be exhibited.
A special feature of the manuscript are the unusually thick image pages and strangely designed text fields on the illustrations. During an examination of the manuscript, John Seyller discovered that these peculiarities are the result of subsequent changes to the text. In order to be able to use the painstakingly produced images for a different text, the backs were covered over with a complete page of text and the text fields in the illustrations were pasted over with new, matching text panels. In some cases, the old wording was also painted over or made unrecognizable in some other way, for example in image 101. Folios that only had writing on the front and back were simply replaced with newly written sheets. The changes can be seen not only in the different colors of the original paper and the paper used later, but also in the sometimes oversized, sometimes crookedly pasted new text panels (for example, image nos. 110, 115, 116) as well as the handwriting of another, earlier calligrapher, which is still visible in a few places.
The new wording required different catchwords on the image pages. Often the scribe simply wrote the current custode next to the earlier one. Sometimes a custode appears on both the front and back of an illustrated folio - an indication that the page was turned over when the book was redesigned, i.e. transformed from a recto into a verso or vice versa.
Finally, the new text had to be fitted in so that the narrative met the corresponding illustration at the right point. To achieve this, the calligrapher sometimes artificially slowed down the pace of the narrative by setting the lines at an angle.
Abu 'l-Fazl was first commissioned to write the history of Akbar's reign in 1589 and handed over the first part of the text, which covers the period up to 1572, in April 1596. Two years later, the continuation of the work up to 1598 was completed. The Victoria and Albert Museum assigns the illustrations in this manuscript to the period ca. 1592-1594. However, the question of when it was created is controversial.
Roughly speaking, there are two different chronological classifications: one group of experts dates the paintings to around 1590-1595 another to 1586-1587. The latter agrees with Seyller's assessment. He had been able to prove that the illustrations are older than the accompanying text and concluded from this that the pictures belong to an earlier, unknown Akbar story - a thesis that Milo Beach, a former director of the Freer Gallery of Art, had already put forward in 1981. The dating of the illustrations can therefore be carried out independently of the composition of the Akbar-nÃÂma according to purely stylistic aspects. After a detailed consideration of the artistic characteristics, he places the miniatures between the TÃÂrëkh-i khÃÂndÃÂn-i Tëmà «riyya of 1584/86 and the RÃÂmÃÂyana of 1589, whereby he considers a creation in the years 1586/87 to be probable.
Susan Stronge, curator at the Victoria and Albert Museum, disagrees with Seyller's statements. In her research, she has come to the conclusion that the text for which the images were originally produced is merely one of the older versions of Abà « 'l-Fazl's work. However, the current text does not yet correspond to the known edition of Akbar-nÃÂma. The most striking differences are the abrupt beginning of the text in 1560, which does not correspond to any of the known volume divisions, the lack of a long epilogue after the end of the first thirty years of Akbar's life and the similarly missing introduction to the next volume.
Abu 'l-Fazl revised his text several times. According to the contemporary history work TabaqÃÂt-i Akbarë, one of the early versions was already in circulation in 1592/93. According to Stronge, work on an illustrated Akbar-nÃÂma manuscript could therefore have begun as early as 1592 or even 1590. In any case, the pictures were made for an Akbar-nÃÂma. And since this was not commissioned until 1589, it is impossible that the accompanying illustrations were created as early as 1586/87, as suggested by Seyller. She therefore does not address Seyller's stylistic-historical arguments.
Seyller's conclusions tie in with Milo Beach's considerations that the illustrations of the First Akbar-nÃÂma could have been intended for an earlier biography of Akbar, possibly a kind of continuation of the History of the Descendants of Timur (pers. Tarëḫ-i ḫandÃÂn-i Tëmà «riyya). This richly illustrated work, also called Tëmà «r-nÃÂma, was the first historical manuscript to be written and illustrated together with the Tariḫ-i aḫlfi (pers. History of 1000 Years) at the Mughal court from 1584. The fact that the paintings of the Akbar-nÃÂma are stylistically closely related to those of the Tëmà «r-nÃÂma is not only due to the fact that the painters in the later manuscript were able to fall back on a compositional vocabulary that had already been established by the Tëmà «r-nÃÂma. In fact, a number of the same painters were involved in both manuscripts: Basawan, Laÿl, Miskin, Jagan and Kesav Kalan were responsible for the composition here and there. Other artists, who were primarily responsible for the coloring, can also be found in both manuscripts.
The similarities in the manuscripts are particularly evident in episodes from Akbar's life that appear in both manuscripts. Two illustrations in the First Akbar-nÃÂma on the siege of Ranthambhor have each adopted individual elements from the "Siege of Chitor" in the Tëmà «r-nÃÂma. The close relationship between the two manuscripts is also evident in the "Battle of Sarnal", while the corresponding illustration in the "Second Akbar-nÃÂma" looks completely different. Here the forest of thorns has shrunk into a compact hedge and most of the riders are galloping along quite uniformly with their sabres drawn. Much of the vibrancy of the earlier images has been lost.
The illustrated events of the Victoria-and-Albert-Akbar-nÃÂma take place between November 1560 and 1577. The numbering of the paintings by the museum shortly after the purchase does not correspond to their actual order in the work. There are various rows of numbers in the margins of the illustrations; the one in the middle of the lower margin, usually written in red, is the most authoritative. The others in red and black presumably refer to earlier arrangements of the pictures. The sequence begins with number 82 on fol. 2/117 and ends with number 197 on fol. 114/117, which means that none of the sequence of 116 pictures is missing from the present volume, and that the first volume contained 81 pictures. This first volume probably also contains a number of pictures with numbers between 7 and 45. They are in various museums and collections. Only one detached illustration belongs to a later event (April 1578); it is kept in the British Library (Johnson Album 8.4) and immediately follows the series in the Victoria and Albert Museum.
The pictures in the Victoria and Albert Museum reflect the events from the 5th to the 22nd year of Akbar's reign. It can be seen that the illustrations are not evenly distributed throughout the text, but have certain focal points. With 19 miniatures (100, 101, 121, 128, 129, 131-134, 141-150) the various attempts at rebellion by the Uzbeks, which lasted from around July 1561 to July 1567, take up most of the space. The Uzbek revolt, led by ÿAlë Qulë KhÃÂn ZamÃÂn and his brother BahÃÂdur KhÃÂn, was not only one of the longest, but also one of the most dangerous episodes for the young Mughal ruler and ultimately decisive for the subsequent reorganization of the army.
Great importance was obviously also attached to hunting with 15 illustrations (82, 97, 98, 99, 119, 120, 124, 125, 135, 136, 155, 156, 169, 173, 174).
The battle against the Mirzas was closely linked to the conquest of Gujarat and extends over twelve paintings (179-190). Like Akbar, the Mirzas were descendants of Timur. Their grandfather or father Muhammad SultÃÂn Mërzàhad once come to India with BÃÂbur. They had wanted to shake off Akbar's supremacy and briefly allied themselves with the Uzbeks. IbrÃÂhëm Husayn MërzÃÂ, Muhammad Husayn Mërzàand ShÃÂh Mërzàfinally succeeded in capturing the cities of Baroda, Surat and Champaner. When Akbar tried to expand his empire to the southwest, they were among the most dangerous opponents in Gujarat.
A total of nine illustrations show the siege and capture of the Rajput forts of Chittor and Ranthambhor (151-154 and 157-161).
Finally, five miniatures dealing with Akbar's nurse MÃÂham Anaga and her sons (88, 89, 95, 96, 109) testify to the importance of the milk kinship.
The 1st Akbar-nÃÂma was, like most of the richly illustrated historical manuscripts, produced as a team. An experienced master was responsible for the composition (pers. á¹Âarḥ), while a mostly younger colleague was responsible for the actual execution (pers. ÿamal) in color. In order to ensure a correct and presentable depiction of Akbar or other high personalities, specialists were also employed for the faces (pers. chihra). As the painters were sometimes paid according to their work, their names and activities were often noted below the paintings. Many of these details can still be found on the pages of the Victoria and Albert Museum. The designs are by a total of twelve painters, the most prominent of whom are as follows: Laÿl (at least 19 miniatures), Miskën(ÃÂ) (at least 18 miniatures), Kesav KalÃÂn (16 miniatures), BasÃÂwan (ten) and Jagan (ten). Around thirty other painters were involved in the coloring (ÿamal), although the exact number of those involved cannot be determined with complete certainty: Most of them came from non-Muslim Indian backgrounds and the Persian transliteration of their names is not always consistent. In addition, the same names sometimes occur more than once; the painters are then further identified by a kalÃÂn (the elder) or khurd (the younger), although this addition is not noted in all cases.
There seem to have been certain preferences in the collaboration: SÃÂnwala only colored designs by Laÿl (nos. 89, 120, 138, 173, 180), SarwÃÂn, with one exception (no. 98), only those by Miskën(a) (nos. 126, 135, 151, 178, 197).
Specialists for the faces were above all MÃÂdhav (seven pictures, including one with eight portraits), BasÃÂwan (four), Kesav KalÃÂn (three), Miskën(ÃÂ) (five), and NÃÂnhÃÂ, SanwÃÂla, Mukund (one each).
The young painters Manohar (no. 155), son of BasÃÂwan, and Mansà «r (nos. 136, 187) were already working in the studio and were given their first tasks for the color design. Twenty years later, they would take up leading positions under JahÃÂngër.
The production of the miniatures was a very time-consuming process. On a total of 15 pictures in the Victoria and Albert manuscript, there are still recognizable remnants of notes which prove that the production process took between 42 (no. 191) and 68 days (no. 161). Such a note is particularly clearly visible at the bottom right edge of image 120.
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