Collection Online as of October 1, 2023
Babur meeting with Sultan Ali Mirza at the Kohik River, from a Babur-nama (Memoirs of Babur)
Gum tempera and gold on paper
Image: 28 x 16.5 cm (11 x 6 1/2 in.); Overall: 41 x 27.1 cm (16 1/8 x 10 11/16 in.)
Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund 1971.85
Location
not on view
Description
Thirty years before he captured Delhi and founded the Mughal Empire, Babur began his expansionist activities at the age of 13, as depicted in this painting of an encounter that took place in 1496. Having traveled long distances across harsh dry terrain, Babur confronted one of his rivals who, like him, was angling to march on and conquer the illustrious city of Samarkand, the former capital of his ancestor Timur.