[Kai Khosrow, King of Iran, Avenges his Father's Death], leaf from an early and important Mughal Shahnameh, FERDOWSI, Abdul Qasim.

Single leaf, illuminated manuscript on polished paper, in Farsi with one illuminated miniature depicting Kai Khosrow with his sword raised to avenge his father's death, 225 x 132 mm (text block and total leaf), miniature 125 x 125 mm; text in 4 columns, one line above and 10 lines below the miniature in elegant black nasta'liq, text-frame ruled in gilt (a little oxidised), some light surface soiling; mounted to thick card. At a glance this leaf would appear to be a product of the Safavid courts, however a closer inspection reveals that it is in fact the work of a very skilled Mughal workshop taking influence from Safavid art. During the rule of Emperor Akber (third Mughal Emperor, r. 1556-1605), Mughal India grew rapidly in size while maintaining a strong and stable economy. This in turn, lead to a greater patronage of Indo-Persian arts and cultural pursuits, with Timurid (and later Safavid) poets, architects and artisans moving to Akber's courts at Delhi and Agra. During this period Timurid, Perso-Islamic and Indian styles took influence from one another and became a more distinctive Mughal style. The present painting from a Persian language epic by the poet Ferdowsi, beautifully illustrates the early stages of this stylistic shift from the Safavid to the Mughal. Rather poignantly, the opening words to this leaf are 'shamshir'e hindi' meaning 'Indian sword' which is yielded by Kai Khosrow in the illustration.