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| Keywords: Ghulam Murtaza Khan The Delhi Darbar of Akbar II.jpg The Delhi Darbar of Akbar II In this painting attributed to the artist Ghulam Murtaza Khan the Mughal emperor Akbar II r 1806-37 CE holds court from atop an exquisite jewel-encrusted jharoka or throne covered by a baldachin and topped with an embroidered canopy; the jharoka is a copy of the famous Peacock Throne looted by the Iranians under the Afsharid ruler Nadir Shah r 1736-47 CE in 1738-39 CE Akbar ™s sons Abu Zafar Siraj al-Din the future Bahadur Shah II and the last ruler of the Mughal dynasty r 1838-57 CE Mirza Salim Mirza Jahangir and Mirza Babur stand in attendance on either side of their father They are visually distinguished from the two barefoot servants flanking the scene by their dress their situation on the royal red carpet and their closer proximity to Akbar whose figure fills the centre of the picture plane The scene represents a continuation of the Mughal practice of darshan the presentation ceremony for the Mughals into the nineteenth century Darshan reflected a merging of the Hindu practice of that name meaning beholding with the notion of the king being accessible to his subjects and imparting auspicious blessings to them in the same manner a deity ™s image would to its beholder Asher 1993 p 282 The Mughal adoption of the darshan ritual from Hindu culture enhanced the rulers ™ semi-divine image alluded to in paintings such as this one by the glowing halo around the ruler ™s head The setting in which Akbar II appears is known as the jharoka-i khass-u- amm where the ruler would hold court and take care of administrative duties The darbar or assembly could consist of all classes of people from family members and court grandees to the general public hence khass-u- amm or high and low Koch 1997 p 133 The level of portraiture and detail is exceedingly fine in this painting of a darbar scene The faces are depicted with subtle shading and highly individualistic features such as the light beards rounded chins or in the case of the old emissary at right sunken cheeks The scene likely takes place in the winter because of the warm clothing turbans and headdresses shown Compare to a larger gathering depicted in E Smart and D Walker Pride of the Princes Indian Art of the Mughal Era in the Cincinnati Art Museum 1985 cat no 19 and to T Falk and M Archer Indian Miniatures in the India Office Library 1981 no 227i E Smart notes that there are eight similar known darbar pictures with some also depicting British emissaries Inscriptions in the other paintings allow the identification of the princes from left to right Abu Zafar Siraj ud-Din heir apparent Bahadur Shah II Mirza Salim Mirza Jahangir and Mirza Bahadur Though not all of the Darbar paintings were by the hand of Ghulam Murtaza Khan based on the India Office Library painting one can attribute this painting to him Though the Mughal Empire was disintegrating Smart also remarks that the early 19th century was a high point in the production of high quality painting The artist was successful in capturing the glittering sophistication and decadence of the court which juxtaposed with the anxious expressions on the principal figures poignantly evoke the waning Mughal era Materials and technique Ink opaque watercolour and gold on paper Dimensions 39 4 x 30 9 cm Aga Khan Museum Accession number AKM00214 Auctioned at Christie's in 2001 for US 28 200 Previously property from a New England Collection http //www akdn org/museum/detail asp artifactid 1647 http //www christies com/lotfinder/lot/delhi-darbar-of-akbar-ii-india-delhi-2007164-details aspx from searchresults intObjectID 2007164 sid 92a69636-e9a4-4525-aaa7-6da01dc80d18 ~ 1811 Ghulam Murtaza Khan 100px PD-art-100 ImageNote 1 387 1398 360 1117 2500 3172 2 Abu Zafar Siraj ud-Din ImageNoteEnd 1 ImageNote 2 742 1515 233 921 2500 3172 2 Mirza Salim ImageNoteEnd 2 ImageNote 3 1563 1424 281 1154 2500 3172 2 Mirza Jahangir ImageNoteEnd 3 ImageNote 4 1827 1552 222 1017 2500 3172 2 Mirza Babur ImageNoteEnd 4 ImageNote 5 1001 1091 503 720 2500 3172 2 Akbar II ImageNoteEnd 5 Collections of the Aga Khan Museum Akbar II Bahadur Shah II Peacock Throne | ||||
