Enthronement of Shah Jahan in 1628: a) Accession of Emperor Shah Jahan; b) Reception by Subjects and Drummers, Folios from the Padshahnama (Chronicle of the King of the World)

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Enthronement of Shah Jahan in 1628: a) Accession of Emperor Shah Jahan; b) Reception by Subjects and Drummers, Folios from the Padshahnama (Chronicle of the King of the World)

India, Delhi, Mughal Empire, circa 1800
Drawings; watercolors
Opaque watercolor, gold, and ink on paper
a) Sheet: 11 3/8 x 6 1/2 in. (28.89 x 16.51 cm); Image: 6 1/2 x 4 1/8 in. (16.51 x 10.4775 cm); b) Sheet: 11 3/8 x 6 1/2 in. (28.89 x 16.51 cm); Image: 6 1/2 x 4 in. (16.51 x 10.16 cm)
Mr. and Mrs. Allan C. Balch Collection (M.45.3.542a-b)
South and Southeast Asian Art
Not currently on public view

Curator Notes

The Padshanama (Chronicle of the King of the World) was written by Abdul Hamid Lahawri (or Lahori, d. 1654). In 1648 he completed the first two decades of the reign of Emperor Shah Jahan (r....
The Padshanama (Chronicle of the King of the World) was written by Abdul Hamid Lahawri (or Lahori, d. 1654). In 1648 he completed the first two decades of the reign of Emperor Shah Jahan (r. 1628-1658). The original album, the Padshahnama of 1656-1657 now in The Royal Library, Windsor Castle (RCIN 1005025), narrates only the first decade of Shah Jahan’s reign. The colophon states that the text was copied by the scribe Muhammed-Amin of Mashhad in AH 1067 (1657-1658 CE). Presumably due to the usurpation of Prince Aurangzeb (1618-1707) in 1658, the album was likely never assembled in Shah Jahan’s lifetime. Milo Beach (1997) hypothesizes that it was assembled between the death of Emperor Aurangzeb (r. 1658-1707) in 1707 and the sack of Delhi in 1739 by the Iranian King Nadir Shah (r. 1736-1747). LACMA’s six double-paged folios are from a manuscript attributed to circa 1800 during the reign of Emperor Shah Alam II (r. 1760-1806). Rather than the earlier individualized realistic representations being copied, this later manuscript has new illustrations with generic figures and settings. This double-page folio illustrates the accession ceremonies of Shah Jahan in 1628. On the right (a), the nimbate Shah Jahan is enthroned and receiving dignitaries under a sumptuous tent. In the facing page on the left (b), a procession of admirers and drummers heralds the auspicious event. See also M.45.3.543a-b and M.45.3.545a-b.
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Bibliography

  • Schmitz, Barbara, ed.  After the Great Mughals:  Painting in Delhi and the Regional Courts in the 18th and 19th Centuries.  Mumbai, India:  Marg Publications, 2002.