Mu'wayyad put to death in the ice, from the Tarikh-i-Alfi

Object Details

• Patron

  Akbar (reigned 1556-1605)

• Court

  Mughal Court

• School/Tradition

  Mughal school

• Provenance

  ca. 1592-1594 - ?

  Akbar (1542-1605; reign 1556-1605), by commission [1]

  ?-?

  Ownership information unknown

  At least 1930-1931

  Ajit Ghose (b. 1886), method of acquisition unknown [2]

  From 1931

  Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Ajit Ghose, through Ananda K. Coomaraswamy (1877-1947) [3]

  Notes:

  [1] See Milo Beach, “The Imperial Image: Paintings for the Mughal Court,” (Washington, DC and Ahmedabad, India: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery and Mapin International Inc., 2012), cat. 11D, pp. 77, 79. The Mughal emperor Akbar (1542-1605; reign 1556-1605), commissioned several of his Islamic scholars to jointly write the history of the first thousand years of the Islamic world. The work was completed between 1593-1594.

  [2] See offer letter from Ajit Ghose, Calcutta (Kolkata), India, to John. E Lodge, dated February 19, 1931, copy in object file. Ajit Ghose’s letter states, “Dear sir, [/] You will remember that about a year ago when I saw you with the miniatures of my Akbar manuscript, ‘Tarikh-i-Alfi’, and suggested that the leaves might be acquired for the Freer Gallery of Art, you said that you could only buy only a specimen leaf. At that time I did not entertain the idea of selling the leaves separately. I have, however, now changed my mind.”

  See also untitled object list of “objects, owned by Mr. Ajit Ghose, Calcutta, India, on approval at the Freer Gallery [of Art],” undated (ca. 1931), copy in object file. The object was transferred from Dr. Ananda K. Coomaraswamy (1877-1947) in Boston, MA, on behalf of Ajit Ghose, to the Freer Gallery of Art for acquisition consideration on June 13, 1931.  Object is described as “The Murder of Muwayyad (signed).”

  Ajit Ghose was a lawyer and scholar in Calcutta (Kolkata), India. Ghose was a numismatist, who also collected Persian and Indian art, including paintings and antiquities.

  [3] See object file for copy of “Ajit Ghose (c/o Dr. A. K. Coomaraswamy, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA),” invoice to Freer Gallery of Art, dated December 10, 1931, and marked approved on December 10, 1931. Object is described as “The Murder of Muwayyad (signed).”

  Research updated October 27, 2023

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Arts of the Indian Subcontinent and the Himalayas (October 16, 2004 to January 3, 2016)

  The Imperial Image: Painting for the Mughal Court (September 25, 1981 to 30 March 1982)

  Indian Art (January 1, 1963 to January 28, 1981)

  Untitled Exhibition, Mughal Painting, 1947 (April 23 to September 30, 1947)

  Untitled Exhibition, Mughal Painting (December 20, 1944 to April 23, 1947)

  Untitled Exhibition, South Asian Paintings, Gallery 4 (May 5, 1933 to January 9, 1945)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Ajit Ghose

• Origin

  India

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

• Type

  Painting

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

  There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

  The information presented on this website may be revised and updated at any time as ongoing research progresses or as otherwise warranted. Pending any such revisions and updates, information on this site may be incomplete or inaccurate or may contain typographical errors. Neither the Smithsonian nor its regents, officers, employees, or agents make any representations about the accuracy, reliability, completeness, or timeliness of the information on the site. Use this site and the information provided on it subject to your own judgment. The National Museum of Asian Art welcomes information that would augment or clarify the ownership history of objects in their collections.

Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1590s

• Name

  Ghose, Ajit

• Place

  India

• Topic

  South Asian and Himalayan Art, Art, Mughal dynasty (1526 - 1858), Reign of Akbar (1556 - 1605), Death

• Culture

  Himalayan peoples, South Asians

• Object Type

  Paintings