Painted by Nanha
Opaque watercolour and gold on paper
Museum no. IS.185-1984
This scene, probably done between about 1615 and 1618, shows the submission of the ruler of Mewar in Rajasthan to Shah Jahan, the son of the reigning Mughal emperor Jahangir (ruled 1605-1627). The ruler, Rana Amar Singh, had long held out against the Mughal forces but after a lengthy campaign directed by Shah Jahan was forced to surrender in 1614. The artist, Nanha, has included himself kneeling at the right of the scene, sketching a portrait of the Rana. The picture was made to illustrate the Jahangirnama (‘Book of Jahangir’), the memoirs written in Persian by Jahangir, as indicated by the catchword isolated against the white muslin robe (jama) of the man depicted in the bottom left hand corner, which would be repeated as the first word of the following page. Although Jahangir intended to have various illustrated copies made of his book, none are known to survive.