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Page from an illustrated manuscript of the Tarikhi-i Alfi ("Millennial History"): Imam Hasan al-Askari at the court of Caliph al-Mutawakkil
Indian, Mughal
about 1593
Object Place: Northern India
Medium/Technique
Opaque watercolor and gold on paper
Dimensions
Height x width: 39.7 × 24 cm (15 5/8 × 9 7/16 in.)
Credit Line
Marshall H. Gould Fund
Accession Number62.284
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAsia
ClassificationsBooks and manuscripts
Several rulers of the Mughal empire commissioned histories of their reigns in order to secure their legacies. Emperor Akbar went one step further, ordering the writing of a grand history that covered a whole millennium—beginning at the time of the Prophet Muhammad’s death in 632. This new text, entitled the Tarikh-i-Alfi or Millennial History, placed Akbar at the end, representing him as the figure who would usher in a new age. Only about twenty pages survive from a deluxe illustrated manuscript of this text that was probably made for the emperor himself. This page shows a meeting between the Abbasid caliph al-Mutawakkil (r. 847 - 861) and the 11th of the Twelve Imams, Hasan al-Askari (844-874).
InscriptionsFront: scribbled notation on right margin.
Back: notation on lower margin.
Back: notation on lower margin.
ProvenancePurchased by the MFA in 1962.