Artwork Page for Ghatotkacha and three demons in his company chase Bhagadatta, from Bhishma-parva (volume six) of a Razm-nama (Book of Wars) adapted from the Sanskrit Mahabharata and translated into Persian by Mir Ghiyath al-Din Ali Qazvini, known as Naqib Khan (Persian, d. 1614)

Details / Information for Ghatotkacha and three demons in his company chase Bhagadatta, from Bhishma-parva (volume six) of a Razm-nama (Book of Wars) adapted from the Sanskrit Mahabharata and translated into Persian by Mir Ghiyath al-Din Ali Qazvini, known as Naqib Khan (Persian, d. 1614)

Ghatotkacha and three demons in his company chase Bhagadatta, from Bhishma-parva (volume six) of a Razm-nama (Book of Wars) adapted from the Sanskrit Mahabharata and translated into Persian by Mir Ghiyath al-Din Ali Qazvini, known as Naqib Khan (Persian, d. 1614)

1616–17

attributed to Fazl

(Indian, active early 1600s)
Culture
Mughal India, court of Jahangir (reigned 1605–27), made for Abd al-Rahim the Khan Khanan
Medium
Gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper
Measurements
Page: 36.7 x 24 cm (14 7/16 x 9 7/16 in.)
Credit Line
Gift in honor of Madeline Neves Clapp; Gift of Mrs. Henry White Cannon by exchange; Bequest of Louise T. Cooper; Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund; From the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection 2013.321
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print

Description

The red demons riding elephants were magically generated in multiples by Ghatotkacha, the son of one of the protagonists of Book of Wars. Though created by magic, the elephant-riding demons still caused problems for their adversaries and forced them to retreat. This scene took place on the fourth of 18 days of heated battle.
The Mughal emperor Akbar (reigned 1556–1605) commissioned a translation of the ancient Sanskrit epic Mahabharata into the Mughal court language of Persian and distributed copies to members of his court. He believed that the epic provided insight into how to rule the people of India. The chief minister to both Akbar and his successor, Jahangir, commissioned his own lavishly illustrated copy, from which this page has come.
This vertically oriented painting features a block of Persian script in the upper right. Against mauve rocky outcrops and a blue sky, three red-skinned, horned figures on gray elephants charge a light-skinned person on a pink-draped elephant. In the lower foreground, a rider on an orange-clad horse has fallen near a severed head. Two trees stand at the top, and the battle occurs across green and mauve terrain.

Ghatotkacha and three demons in his company chase Bhagadatta, from Bhishma-parva (volume six) of a Razm-nama (Book of Wars) adapted from the Sanskrit Mahabharata and translated into Persian by Mir Ghiyath al-Din Ali Qazvini, known as Naqib Khan (Persian, d. 1614)

1616–17

Fazl

(Indian, active early 1600s)
Mughal India, court of Jahangir (reigned 1605–27), made for Abd al-Rahim the Khan Khanan

See Also

  • Collection
    Indian
  • Department
    Indian and Southeast Asian Art
  • Type of artwork
    Painting
  • Medium
    Tempera
  • Credit line
    Gift In Honor of Madeline Neves Clapp; Gift of Mrs. Henry White Cannon by Exchange; Bequest of Louise T. Cooper; Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund; From the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection

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