https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Jahangir_Receives_Prince_KhurramJahangir Receives Prince Khurram - Revision history2026-11-04T23:09:58ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.43.6https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jahangir_Receives_Prince_Khurram&diff=505201&oldid=prevRowenaClune540: Added some article basic info2026-02-13T11:43:40Z<p>Added some article basic info</p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|17th-century Indian miniature painting}}<br />
{{Infobox artwork<br />
| image = 'Abid. Jahangir Receives Prince Khurram, Ajmer, April 1616 Folio 192v from the Windsor Padshahnama, ca. 1635-36 The Royal Library, Windsor Castle.jpg<br />
| artist = 'Abid<br />
| medium = gouache paint and paper<br />
}}<br />
'''''Jahangir Receives Prince Khurram''''' is an Indian [[Mughal miniature]] painting in the [[Royal Collection]].''<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last1=Beach |first1=Milo Cleveland |url=https://archive.org/details/kingofworldpadsh0000king/page/92/mode/2up |title=King of the World: The Padshahnama |last2=Koch |first2=Ebba |date=1997 |pages=92, 198–199 |publisher=Azimuth Editions |isbn=978-1-898592-11-2 }}</ref>'' It is a [[folio]] in a manuscript of the ''[[Padshahnama]]'', known as the [[Windsor Padshahnama]], dating to the 17th century, probably between 1635 and 1640; the scene it shows was from 1616.<br />
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== Background ==<br />
The miniature is from the ''[[Padshahnama]],<ref name=":1" />'' a chronicle of the reign of the [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] emperor [[Shah Jahan]]. This scene, however, is from the reign of his father, the emperor [[Jahangir]]. It depicts Shah Jahan as a prince (thus known by his personal name "Khurram" rather than his title "Shah Jahan") paying obeisance to his father.<ref name=":0" /><br />
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The scene depicted is dated to 1616, when the prince was leaving for a military campaign in the [[Deccan sultanates|Deccan]], against [[Malik Ambar]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last1=Crill |first1=Rosemary |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ongF6dkNKAcC |title=The Indian Portrait, 1560-1860 |last2=Jariwala |first2=Kapil |date=2010 |publisher=Mapin Publishing Pvt Ltd |isbn=978-81-89995-37-9 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{cite book |last=Mumtaz |first=Murad Khan |url=https://archive.org/details/oapen-20.500.12657-87913/page/183/mode/2up |title=Faces of God - Images of Devotion in Indo-Muslim Painting, 1500–1800 |date=2023 |publisher=BRILL |pages=184, 187 |language=English}}</ref> It depicts the court at [[Ajmer]] at the time when Jahangir appointed the prince as his [[heir apparent]] and awarded him the title of [[Shah]].<ref name=":3" /> This conferment was highly unusual, since Shah (meaning "king") is a title that was not usually awarded to a prince while the emperor still lived.''<ref name=":1" />''<br />
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==Description==<br />
[[File:Transparent_sheikh_in_the_central_panel_of_"Jahangir_Receives_Prince_Khurram"_from_the_Windsor_Padshahnama,_ca._1635-36_The_Royal_Library,_Windsor_Castle.png|thumb|The saint is transparent, as though existing on a divine [[Plane (esotericism)|plane]] of reality in contrast with the rest of the painting's worldly status.<ref name=":3" />]]<br />
The depicted scene is of a royal ''[[Durbar (court)|durbar]]''. The painting is hierarchically divided into three registers.<ref name=":2" /> The first register, at the top, depicts the prince [[Shah Jahan|Khurram]] paying his respects his father, the emperor [[Jahangir]].<ref name=":2" /> The prince is standing to the left of the emperor, and is greeting the emperor, with his right arm raised in a gesture of respect. The emperor has his right arm placed upon his chest, in a gesture of acknowledgement. A servant stands to the back, almost blending into the background.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Goswamy |first=B. N. |author-link=B. N. Goswamy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1-rfrQEACAAJ |title=The Spirit of Indian Painting: Close Encounters with 101 Great Works, 1100-1900 |date=2014 |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=978-0-670-08657-3 |pages=342−345 |language=en}}</ref><br />
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The second register, below the royal balcony, is occupied by the important noblemen of the court. These include [[Mirza Ghiyas Beg|I'timad-ud-Daulah]], [[Abu'l-Hasan Asaf Khan|Asaf Khan]], [[Mahabat Khan]], and future [[Karan Singh II]].''<ref name=":1" />'' They are enclosed by a railing, which separates them from the other attendants and servants, which occupy the lowest portion of the painting.<ref name=":2" /> Several courtiers are wearing gold medallions bearing the likeness of the emperor, either upon their turbans, or hanging around their necks.<ref name=":1" /> <br />
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In the central panel of the second register, right below the emperor's throne, there is a [[Grisaille]] depiction of a bearded saint holding a golden globe, as if offering it to the prince.<ref name=":3" /> The holding of the globe is an allegorical reference to kingship of the world. Two angels are flying above the saint.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Guy |first1=John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=06Tq2sviwoUC |title=Wonder of the Age: Master Painters of India, 1100-1900 |last2=Britschgi |first2=Jorrit |date=2011 |publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art |isbn=978-1-58839-430-9 |pages=79 |language=en}}</ref> Contrasting with the opaque courtiers that surround him, the saintly figure is completely transparent, and blends into the green background. This depicts the coexistence of two separate [[Plane (esotericism)|planes]] of reality, the worldly and the divine. The ghostly figure of the saint exists on the divine plane, while the opaque courtiers exist on the wordly plane.<ref name=":3" /> While the emperor is appointing the prince as his heir apparent, the kingship is actually being offered by the saint, as symbolized by the globe. The saint bears a resemblance to earlier depictions of [[Mu'in al-Din Chishti]]. Alternatively, he might be [[Khidr|Khizr]].<ref name=":3" /><br />
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Finally, the third register, at the bottom, consists of eight people standing just outside of the railing.<ref name=":2" /> Each wears a different style of turban, thus indicating their diverse origins.<ref name=":0" /> While the important noblemen had to be depicted in a standardized way so that they may be recognisable across various group portraits, the artist has depicted these lesser nobles in a more inventive style. The laughing man, at the bottom left of the painting, is an example of this.<ref name=":2" /><br />
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==References==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
[[Category:Illuminated manuscript images]]<br />
[[Category:1630s paintings]]<br />
[[Category:Indian paintings]]<br />
[[Category:Mughal art]]<br />
[[Category:Paintings in the Royal Collection of the United Kingdom]]<br />
[[Category:Indian artefacts held abroad]]</div>RowenaClune540