Mir Sayyid Ali was born in Tabriz, Iran. He migrated to Kabul, Afghanistan in 1552 to work for the Mughal Emperor Humayun (r. 1530-1540 and 1555-1556) and accompanied him to Delhi in 1555 to become the director of the royal manuscript atelier. He oversaw the production of the Hamzanama (Adventures of Hamza) project consisting of 1400 large-scale paintings bound in fourteen volumes in 1562-1572, which was completed under Abd al-Samad in 1572-1577 (see M.78.9.1).
Mir Sayyid Ali depicts himself dressed in South Asian garb. He wears a Deccani style white turban with a decorative band wrapped around it and a floral jigha (plume-like ornament similar to an aigrette). Kneeling on a rug in a landscape, he is intently reading a book supported by an elegant book stand (see M.73.5.118 and M.76.2.19). Beside him is an inkwell, a pen box (see M.73.5.340 and M.89.160a-b), a writing tablet with two inscriptions, and an unfurling paper scroll.
The upper inscription on the tablet reads, ‘At the top of the writing tablet, it is written in gold: “The master’s tyranny is better than the father’s kindness.”’ The lower inscription furnishes the artist’s signature, ‘Depicted by Sayyid Ali, the rarity of the kingdom of Humayun Shah.’ The calligraphic panels on the rug are a poetic couplet, ‘My two eyes are the coverings in that abode so that you may ordain your bridal room, there. Wherever you trudge along, I want to become the dust on the road, there.’ (Translations by A.S. Melikian-Chirvani.)
