The Razmnama (The Book of War) is a Persian translation of the great Sanskrit epic, the Mahabharata ([War of the] Great Bharatas). The first imperial manuscript was made for Emperor Akbar (r. 1556-1605) in 1582-1586. It is now in the Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II Museum, Jaipur. Several illustrated copies of the manuscript are known, including a dispersed manuscript dated 1598-1599, now mainly in the British Library, London; a dispersed manuscript of circa 1600; a manuscript dated 1605, now in the Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Kolkata; and a widely dispersed manuscript with pages dated 1616-1617. This folio and M.75.4.27 are from the dispersed manuscript of 1616-1617, which was made for the poet and littérateur, Abd al-Rahim (1556-1626), the Khan Khanan (Commander in Chief of the Mughal armies).
According to John Seyller (1999), this folio was painted by Kamal (India, active late 16th century-early 17th century), who also worked on the Ramayana (Adventures of Rama) of 1587-1599 in the Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, DC (F1907.271.173-346) and the Shahnama (Book of Kings) of 1616-1617 in the British Library, London (Add. 5600).
In this fragmentary folio, Prince Chandrahasa sacrifices himself at the temple of the goddess Chandika by cutting off a piece of his chest and offering it as an oblation into a devotional fire. The four-armed goddess, who has been manifested by her golden image installed within the adjacent shrine, attempts to dissuade him.
