https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Jahangir_Entertains_Shah_AbbasJahangir Entertains Shah Abbas - Revision history2026-10-31T01:09:27ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.43.6https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jahangir_Entertains_Shah_Abbas&diff=505197&oldid=prevOmerRobson4867: started new post!2026-02-26T10:01:44Z<p>started new post!</p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|Miniature painting by Abu'l Hasan}}<br />
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{{infobox artwork<br />
| image = 12 Abu'l Hasan Jahangir Welcoming Shah 'Abbas, ca. 1618, Freer Gallery of Art, Washington DC.jpg<br />
| artist = [[Abu'l-Hasan (artist)]]<br />
| museum = [[Freer Gallery of Art]]<br />
}}<br />
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'''Jahangir Entertains Shah Abbas''' is a Mughal miniature painting by the artist [[Abu'l-Hasan (artist)|Abu'l Hasan]]. It is located in the [[Freer Gallery of Art]] in Washington, D.C.<br />
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== Background ==<br />
The work dates to 1620.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Keating |first=Jessica |date=2015-09-01 |title=Metamorphosis at the Mughal Court |url=https://academic.oup.com/arthistory/article-abstract/38/4/732/7278263?redirectedFrom=fulltext |journal=Art History |volume=38 |issue=4 |pages=732–747 |doi=10.1111/1467-8365.12178 |issn=0141-6790|url-access=subscription }}</ref> A possible explanation for the commissioning of this work, and other imaginary scenes, such as [[Jahangir Shooting the Head of Malik Ambar|Jahangir Shooting the head of Malik Ambar]], would be that they were attempts to influence the real world through depicting them in the imaginary realm. [[Malik Ambar]] and Shah [[Abbas the Great|Abbas I]] were two of Jahangir's fiercest adversaries, and while the former was depicted dead with Jahangir shooting arrows at his head, Shah Abbas is depicted in a deferential position to the emperor. This deference is also apparent in another such painting, ''[[Jahangir Embracing Shah Abbas]]''.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Mumtaz |first=Murad Khan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Iun7EAAAQBAJ&dq=%22ethereal+malachite+green%22&pg=PA153 |title=Faces of God: Images of Devotion in Indo-Muslim Painting, 1500–1800 |date=2023-08-28 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-54944-9 |pages=153–155 |language=en}}</ref><br />
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During [[Nader Shah's invasion of India]], this painting was among the ones looted and mounted on the "St. Petersburg album".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Jahangir Entertains Shah Abbas, from the St. Petersburg Album - National Museum of Asian Art |url=https://asia.si.edu/explore-art-culture/collections/search/edanmdm:fsg_F1942.16a/ |access-date=2025-02-23 |website=National Museum of Asian Art |language=en-US}}</ref><br />
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== Description ==<br />
[[File:Cropped_image_of_Abu'l_Hasan_Jahangir_Welcoming_Shah_'Abbas,_ca._1618,_Freer_Gallery_of_Art,_Washington_DC.jpg|thumb|Shah Abbas appears to be listening to his host deferentially.]]<br />
At the top of the painting are two angels, who are holding up a genealogy of Jahangir, tracing his descent from [[Timur]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Beach |first=Milo Cleveland |url=https://archive.org/details/dli.ministry.25950/page/169/mode/2up |title=The imperial image: paintings for the Mughal court |date=1981 |publisher=Freer Gallery of Art, Washington |pages=170–171}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Ettinghausen |first=Richard |url=https://archive.org/details/aclcpl00000106a489/page/n31/mode/2up |title=ACL-CPL 00106 Paintings of the Sultans and Emperors of India in American Collections |pages=Plate 13}}</ref><br />
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The painting depicts an imaginary meeting between Jahangir and Shah Abbas. They are seated on a floating throne, seemingly hovering against the green background.<ref name=":3" /> They are flanked by two attendants—to the left of Jahangir is [[Abu'l-Hasan Asaf Khan|Asaf Khan]], who served as [[List of Mughal grand viziers|grand vizier]] of the empire, and was the older brother of empress [[Nur Jahan]]. To the right of Shah Abbas is Khan Alam, the representative of the Mughal empire in the Safavid court.<ref name=":1" /><br />
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Jahangir is portrayed as slightly larger, and more self-assured than his guest. Shah Abbas appears to be listening to him deferentially.<ref name=":2" /> Both the rulers have a [[Halo (religious iconography)|halo]] around them.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Das |first=Asok |date=1980-01-01 |title=Mughal Painting during Jahangir's Time |url=https://www.academia.edu/90891267/Mughal_Painting_during_Jahangirs_Time |journal=Artibus Asiae |pages=388-389}}</ref><br />
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In front of the two kings are various luxurious objects. These include an Italian table and a Chinese porcelain cup.<ref name=":1" /> Asaf Khan holds up a wine bottle and cup. Khan Alam is holding an [[automaton]] of ''Diana on a Stag''.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Sharma |first=Kamayani |date=2023-06-18 |title=A robot in a 400-year-old painting of Jahangir is a lesson in how rulers project global power |url=https://scroll.in/magazine/1050990/a-robot-in-a-400-year-old-painting-of-jahangir-is-a-lesson-in-how-rulers-project-global-power |access-date=2025-02-23 |website=Scroll.in |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":2" /><br />
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==References==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
{{Works by Abu'l Hasan}}<br />
[[Category:Indian paintings]]<br />
[[Category:Mughal art]]<br />
{{improve categories|date=February 2025}}<br />
[[Category:Indian artefacts held abroad]]</div>OmerRobson4867