The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 14, 2025

Hearing her declaration of love, Ayaz falls at the feet of Mahmuda at the holy shrine. The scene is witnessed by Salim, Ayaz’s friend, and a maid, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Thirty-third Night

c. 1560

Mughal India, court of Akbar

(reigned 1556–1605)
gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper
Overall: 20.3 x 14 cm (8 x 5 1/2 in.); Painting only: 8.7 x 10.2 cm (3 7/16 x 4 in.)
Gift of Mrs. A. Dean Perry 1962.279.221.a
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

The red fence designates the boundary of a sacred space.

Description

On the right, an ecstatic Ayaz, dressed in the orange tunic, reunites with his lover, Mahmuda, in a cemetery after her unwilling marriage to another man. Despite this separation, their mutual love has remained true. Salim, watching the reunion with Mahmuda’s maid, quickly devises a plan that will allow the couple to remain together.
  • ?–1959
    Estate of Breckinridge Long [1881–1958], Bowie, MD
    1959–1962?
    (Harry Burke Antiques, Philadelphia, PA)
    1959?–1962
    (Bernard Brown Agency, Milwaukee, WI, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Purchased with funds from Mrs. A. Dean [Helen Wade Greene] Perry)
    1962–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
    Provenance Footnotes
    1 Samuel Miller Breckinridge Long (May 16, 1881–September 26, 1958) was an American diplomat and politician, who served in the administrations of Presidents Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Long is largely remembered for his obstructionist role as the Assistant Secretary of State responsible for granting refugee visas during World War II. His interests included the collection of antiques, paintings and American ship models. He maintained a stable of Thoroughbred race horses and was a director of the Laurel Park Racecourse in Laurel, Maryland, and he enjoyed fox hunting, fishing, and sailing.
  • Chandra, Pramod, and Daniel J. Ehnbom. The Cleveland Tuti-Nama Manuscript and the Origins of Mughal Painting. [Cleveland]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1976. pp. 79, 134
    Seyller, John. “Overpainting in the Cleveland T̤ūtīnāma.” Artibus Asiae 52, no. 3/4 (1992): 283-318. p. 317 www.jstor.org
  • {{cite web|title=Hearing her declaration of love, Ayaz falls at the feet of Mahmuda at the holy shrine. The scene is witnessed by Salim, Ayaz’s friend, and a maid, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Thirty-third Night|url=false|author=|year=c. 1560|access-date=14 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1962.279.221.a