- Title
- Sultan Baz Bahadur of Malwa (r. 1555-1562) and Rani Rupmati Hunting
- Date Made
- circa 1700
- Medium
- Ink and opaque watercolor on paper
- Dimensions
- 7 1/2 x 9 3/4 in. (19.05 x 24.76 cm)
- Accession Number
- M.77.154.5
- Collecting Area
- South and Southeast Asian Art
- Curatorial Notes
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 nim qalam (half-pen) lightly tinted drawing, Baz Bahadur and Rupmati are galloping on horseback hunting antelope. Baz Bahadur is drawing his bow to fire an arrow, while Rupmati reaches forward with her bow to snare a female antelope by the neck, which is said to convey her compassion. In contrast, the compositionally similar representation in M.80.55 portrays Baz Bahadur and Rupmati as each having shot an arrow into an antelope, which is being attacked by a Saluki hunting dog.
See also M.72.45, M.80.55, and M.81.271.11.
- Selected Bibliography
- Pal, Pratapaditya and Catherine Glynn. The Sensuous Line: Indian Drawings from the Paul F. Walter Collection. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1976.
