This painting illustrates the famous love story of Sultan Baz Bahadur (r. 1555-1562) and his beloved Hindu Queen Rupmati who ruled the Malwa Sultanate from the capital of Mandu. Baz Bahadur and his forces were defeated by the invading Mughal army of Emperor Akbar (r. 1556-1605) in the battle of Sarangpur in 1561. Rupmati was captured and, in accordance with the age-old Hindu marital practice, virtuously committed suicide. According to the tragic tale, Rupmati kept her husband from straying by joining him on midnight hunts. Illustrations of the royal couple hunting typically portray them on horseback riding through a forest or hunting antelope or sometimes hawking. In this painting, Baz Bahadur and Rupmati are on horseback together in the center of a forest glen. Baz Bahadur wears a falconry gauntlet on which rests a trained falcon for hunting small prey. Rupmati carries a shepherd’s crook. The lovers look longingly into each other’s eyes, seemingly embraced by the lush landscape symbolizing fertility. A Persian inscription on reverse incorrectly identifies the subjects as the forbidden young lovers, Madhu and Malati. (Translation by Z. A. Desai.) See also M.72.45, M.77.154.5, and M.80.55.