Jahangir Shooting the Head of Malik Ambar

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Jahangir Shooting the Head of Malik Ambar
Jahangir Shooting the Head of Malik Ambar, Chester Beatty Library.png
Artist Abu'l-Hasan
Yearc. 1620 (1620)
Movement Mughal
Dimensions25.8 × 16.5 cm

Jahangir Shooting the Head of Malik Ambar is a Mughal painting by the artist Abu'l-Hasan. [1] It is located in the Chester Beatty Library. [2]

Contents

Background

Malik Ambar was the regent of the Ahmdenagar Sultanate. The Mughal emperor Jahangir fought a long campaign to conquer Ahmednagar, but could not achieve this goal due to fierce resistance from Ambar's forces. [3] [4]

Jahangir Shooting the Head of Malik Ambar is part of a series of allegorical paintings commissioned by Jahangir, around 1616-18, executed by eminent painters of the Mughal court. These display a wide variety of motifs drawn from Islamic, Hindu, and Christian iconographies, and are serve to reflect the inner psyche of their patron. [4]

Another theory suggests that it was painted on the occasion of Ambar's death in 1626. [5]

Description

Jahangir's seal, containing his titles and genealogy. Representation of Jahangir's seal, from a painting of Jahangir shooting at the head of Malik 'Ambar, ca.1616.jpg
Jahangir's seal, containing his titles and genealogy.
The version in the Smithsonian, considered to be a later copy. Jahangir Shooting the Head of Malik Ambar.jpg
The version in the Smithsonian, considered to be a later copy.

The principal subject is Jahangir, shooting a second arrow through the severed head of Malik Ambar, impaled upon a javelin. He stands upon a globe, featuring India at the center. This is a reference to his regnal title Jahangir (literally "world seizer"). [3] A lion and a goat are represented on the globe, depicting the "dad u dam" (transl. "beast and prey") theme. [7] The globe is situated upon the horns of a cow, which in turn is standing on a fish. The cow and fish are both Islamic symbols of kingship. [4] Jahangir being on top of this group of objects thus symbolizes his status as the sovereign of the material and spiritual realms. [8]

To the right is a golden stand, on which is a disk containing the seal of Jahangir, surmounted by a plumed crown. On the seal are the full titles of Jahangir, and his genealogy tracing back to Timur. [6] A bird of paradise flies above this stand. [4]

To the left is the severed head of Malik Ambar, with an open mouth and eyes rolled back, is depicted without a turban, and thus a disrespectful portrayal. One arrow has already struck the head. [9] An owl is perched on top of the head. The owl, in Islamic symbology, is an inauspicious bird and a symbol of death, and Jahangir reportedly asked for its inclusion himself. [3] The dead mate of this bird hangs from the javelin, below the severed head. A chain with bells connects the javelin to the globe, with a scale suspended from it. This chain is the zanjir-i adal (chain of justice), placed in the Mughal capital, where any subject might ring it seeking the emperor's justice. [7] Jahangir's musket is also depicted, resting by the javelin. [4]

The following text is inscribed below the scale: "Through the justice of Shah Nur al-Din Jahangir, the lion has sipped milk from the teat of the goat". [7]

Other versions

Another version, considered to be a later copy painted in the 19th century, exists in the Smithsonian. [2] [6]

References

  1. ↑ "Jahangir Shooting the Head of Malik Ambar". Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 2025-02-14.
  2. 1 2 Beach, Milo Cleveland (1980). "The Mughal Painter Abu'l Hasan and Some English Sources for His Style". The Journal of the Walters Art Gallery. 38: 29, 32. ISSN   0083-7156. JSTOR   20168968.
  3. 1 2 3 Asher, Catherine B.; Talbot, Cynthia (2022-09-08). India before Europe. Cambridge University Press. p. 206. ISBN   978-1-108-65467-8.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Haidar, Navina Najat; Sardar, Marika (2015-04-13). Sultans of Deccan India, 1500–1700: Opulence and Fantasy. Metropolitan Museum of Art. p. 74. ISBN   978-0-300-21110-8.
  5. ↑ Skelton 1988, p. 179.
  6. 1 2 3 Gallop, Annabel (1999-04-01). "The genealogical seal of the Mughal Emperors of India". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. 9 (1): 98. doi:10.1017/S1356186300015935.
  7. 1 2 3 Beach, Milo Cleveland (1981). The imperial image: paintings for the Mughal court. Freer Gallery of Art, Washington.
  8. ↑ Mumtaz, Murad Khan (2023-08-28). Faces of God: Images of Devotion in Indo-Muslim Painting, 1500–1800. BRILL. p. 156. ISBN   978-90-04-54944-9.
  9. ↑ Natif, Mika (2018-07-25), "Concepts of Portraiture under Akbar and Jahangir", Mughal Occidentalism, Brill, pp. 205–260, ISBN   978-90-04-37499-7 , retrieved 2025-02-14

Bibliography

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