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Manuscript/Mixed Material The battle of Mazandaran

About this Item

Title

  • The battle of Mazandaran

Created / Published

  • ca. 1564-1579

Headings

  • -  Calligraphy, Arabic
  • -  Calligraphy, Persian
  • -  Manuscripts, Persian--Washington (D.C.)
  • -  India
  • -  Arabic script calligraphy
  • -  Illuminated Islamic manuscripts
  • -  Islamic calligraphy
  • -  Islamic manuscripts
  • -  Nasta'liq

Notes

  • -  The battle of Mazandaran drawn from the "Hamzahnamah" (Book of Hamzah), sponsored by the Mughal Emperor Akbar (r. 1556-1605), India. Written in the Nasta'liq script.
  • -  Approximately 50 painters worked on the project under the supervision of the famous artists Mir Sayyid 'Ali and 'Abd al-Samad, who both had worked ca. 1522-35 on the royal "Shahnamah" of the Safavid ruler Shah Tahmasp (see Dickson and Welch 1981). Although a number of paintings are linked to specific artists, this one does not bear a particular attribution mark.
  • -  Dimensions of Painting: 50.6 (w) x 68.5 (h) cm. Dimensions of Written Surface: 53.4 (w) x 70.5 (h) cm
  • -  The large-scale text panel on the verso describes the Battle of Mazandaran. The text is executed in black nasta'liq script on a large beige sheet of paper that bears substantial water damage. The last three lines also exhibit the crowded writing that is seen frequently in the manuscript as the scribe(s) struggled to complete the narrative account on each text page.
  • -  This large-scale painting depicts the Battle of Mazandaran, an event in the Persian romance of the mythical adventures and battles of Amir Hamzah, the uncle of the Prophet Muhammad, recorded in the famous "Hamzahnamah" (Book of Hamzah). The "Hamzahnamah" was begun around 1564 under the sponsorship of the Mughal Emperor Akbar (r. 1556-1605) and was completed in approximately fifteen years. A number of the manuscript's original folios totaling 1,400 in number -- including this painting and its attending text (1-90-154.188 V) -- were brought together, exhibited, and published in 2002 (Seyller 2002: 262-3, fig. 41).
  • -  This painting is number 38 in the 7th volume of the "Hamzahnamah", as inscribed between the legs of the man in the bottom center. It depicts a battle scene in which the protagonists Khwajah 'Umar and Hamzah (nicknamed Sahib Qiran, "Owner of the Epochs") and their armies engage in fierce battle. Originally, the faces were depicted, subsequently erased by iconoclasts, and repainted in more recent times. Only the face of the groom wearing an orange turban in the center of the left edge has been left untouched. Immediately above this figure, a soldier in a studded gold tunic has a disjointed face, revealing how an old border was removed and faces retouched.
  • -  Script: nasta'liq
  • -  1-90-154.188

Medium

  • 1 volume ; 53.4 (w) x 70.5 (h) cm

Repository

  • Library of Congress African and Middle Eastern Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2019714693

Online Format

  • pdf
  • image

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

Rights & Access

The contents of the Library of Congress Selections of Arabic, Persian, and Ottoman Calligraphy are in the public domain or have no known copyright restrictions and are free to use and reuse.

Credit Line: Library of Congress, African and Middle East Division, Near East Section Persian Manuscript Collection

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

The battle of Mazandaran. to 1579, 1564. Manuscript/Mixed Material. https://www.loc.gov/item/2019714693/.

APA citation style:

(1564) The battle of Mazandaran. to 1579. [Manuscript/Mixed Material] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2019714693/.

MLA citation style:

The battle of Mazandaran. to 1579, 1564. Manuscript/Mixed Material. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2019714693/>.