- RECENT POSTS
- RARE BOOKS
- PAINTINGS
-
- THEMES
- The Grand Mughals - Babur to Bahadur Shah Zafar (1526-1857)
- Indian Life and Landscapes by Western Artists
- Literature, Music and Dance of Ancient India
- Collecting Rare and Antiquarian Books
- Museums, Libraries and Archives of the World
- Hinduism - the Sanathana Dharma
- India - After the advent of Photography
- Indian Cities - Through the Ages
- Art, Sculpture and Treasures of India
- Architecture of India
- India - Its People, Culture, Professions and Languages
- India and its Royalty
- Ancient India (Upto 1200 CE)
- The Honourable East India Company (1600-1858)
- India - As seen by foreign travellers
- The Dutch, French and Portuguese in India
- The Indian Independence Movement
- Dealers of Rare and Antiquarian Books
- History of Mysore
- India during the Colonial Era
- Company School Paintings
- Sikhs - Their Religion and History
- Buddhism - in the land of Buddha
- Kingdoms of India
- Islam in India
- Christianity in India
- Rise of the Maratha Power
- Hinduism in foreign lands
- Cartography of India
- Modern Literature in India
- Natural History of India
- India and its Many Geographies
- The Deccan Kingdoms
- Revisiting Indian History
- History of India's Trade, Industry and Finance
- Saints, Reformers and Pioneers
- Astronomy, Ayurveda, Yoga, Science and Mathematics in Ancient India
- Hindu Empires of Southern India
- Colonial Literature of India
- Art and Artists of the Twentieth Century
- Rare Dictionaries of Indian Languages
- The History of India - By its various Historians
- Travel Literature of Colonial India
- The Foreign Invaders
- Jainism and its ancient origins
- RBSI in Media
- Rare Books of World Literature
- Sanskrit - its grammar and antiquity
- Neighbouring lands of India
- The Parsis - Who made India their home
- Military History of India
- THEMES
- JOIN RBSI
Posted on: 15 December 2011
A Mughal prince riding the elephant Mahabir Deb - 1645
This drawing of an elephant was probably done in about 1630 at the Mughal court and is identified by a Persian inscription written by emperor Shah Jahan. It records that the animal's name is Mahabir Deb, that it had been presented to the emperor by 'Adil Khan, and that it was worth 300,000 rupees. The Bijapuri ruler sent regular tributes of money and valuable goods, including elephants, to the Mughal emperor.
An inscription on the back identifies the prince riding the elephant as Dara Shokuh, Shah Jahan's son. There are various seals on both sides of the painting; the earliest is dated 1643-4.
Source : V&A, London
Image details : A Mughal prince riding the elephant Mahabir Deb - 1645 This drawing of an elephant was probably done in about 1630 at the Mughal court and is identified by a Persian inscription written by emperor Shah Jahan. It records that the animal's name is Mahabir Deb, that it had been presented to the emperor by 'Adil Khan, and that it was worth 300,000 rupees. The Bijapuri ruler sent regular tributes of money and valuable goods, including elephants, to the Mughal emperor. An inscription on the back identifies the prince riding the elephant as Dara Shokuh, Shah Jahan's son. There are various seals on both sides of the painting; the earliest is dated 1643-4. The animal walks to the left, guided by a young Mughal prince who sits on the elephant's neck, holding a gold ankus in his right hand. The elephant wears a gold saddle cloth with a pattern of scarlet tulips. The head band, tassel, and crupper chain are also painted gold. Beneath the stomach is the inscription written by the emperor Shah Jahan. Marks and inscriptions : Likeness of Mahabir Deb, which formerly had the name Khush Khan. The gift of 'Adil Khan. Value 300,000 rupees. The drawing was given by Robert Scott Greenshields, fomerly of the Indian Civil Service. He was educated at Birkenhead School and appointed to the ICS after his examination in 1877. He arrived in India on 9 December 1879 and served as assistant magistrate and collector; trs to Assam in March 1882; assistant commissioner March 1886. Officiated as director of land revenue and agriculture 1889; deputy commissioner, Nov 1890; magistrate and collector in Bengal, Nov 1897; retired February 1910. Source : British Library
Just beautiful. Thanks for sharing.
Darius is lovingly portrayed, such fine delicate and sensitive features. A person of refinement, knowledge and culture. What a drastic difference from the more Turkic looking predecessors (and Aurangzeb too for that matter)
Emperor Jalaluddin Akbar also had pure Turkic looks. Don't go by the appearance of people - what is inside is all that matters.
Well Akbar did behave exactly his looks would have lead Indians to believe about Turks behavior for a large part of his life.
Great comeback of ancient art. The elephant seems to be the main theme here and not the prince. Love the simplicity of the artist.