The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of July 16, 2026

A vertically oriented gum tempera and gold painting depicts an outdoor feast. In the top half, figures with medium-light skin tones gather under a large red umbrella while men prepare food on our left. Below a red patterned barrier, more men lead horses and two camels on our right. On our lower left, a man in a lavender robe stands within an ornate blue and gold doorway, gesturing toward a figure holding a platter.

A feast for Babur hosted by his half-brother Jahangir Mirza in Ghazni in May 1505, from a Babur-nama (Memoirs of Babur)

c. 1589; outer margins added c. mid-1900s

Basavana

(Indian, active c. 1560–1600)

and Madhav Khurd

(Indian, active late 1500s)
India, Mughal, 16th century
Gum tempera and gold on paper
Page: 28 x 18.1 cm (11 x 7 1/8 in.)
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 2013.300
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

A manager directs servers to bring spoons and lay out the buffet table.

Description

Twenty-one years before his conquest of Delhi, Babur took control of territories in Afghanistan, including the cities of Kabul and Ghazni. His half-brother, who controlled the region around Ghazni, ordered that a party be thrown in honor of Babur’s arrival from the north. Drinking parties and feasts in lavish movable tent settings, where gifts were exchanged, alliances forged, and relationships cemented, were as important to the building of the empire as the battles.
  • The Cleveland Museum of Art (7/31/2016-10/23/2016); Art and Stories from Mughal India, cat. 13, p. 142-45.
  • {{cite web|title=A feast for Babur hosted by his half-brother Jahangir Mirza in Ghazni in May 1505, from a Babur-nama (Memoirs of Babur)|url=false|author=Basavana, Madhav Khurd|year=c. 1589; outer margins added c. mid-1900s|access-date=16 July 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2013.300