A charioteer riding through a rocky landscape with an entourage of footmen and musicians, page from 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 (P

Yusuf Ali, an Indian painter active in the early 1600s, created a page from the Razm-nama depicting a charioteer navigating a rocky landscape with an entourage of footmen and musicians, a scene drawn from the Persian adaptation of the Mahabharata translated by Mir Ghiyath al-Din Ali Qazvini. Executed in 1616, the work exemplifies Mughal artistic engagement with Persian literary sources and illustrates the cross-cultural transmission of South Asian epic narratives. The painting is housed in the Cleveland Museum of Art, where it is catalogued under its 2013 acquisition (2013.322).

This 1616 illustrated page, created by the Indian artist Yusuf Ali, forms part of a Razm‑nama, a Persian‑language book of wars derived from the Sanskrit epic Mahabharata. The manuscript was translated into Persian by Mir Ghiyath al‑Din Ali Qazvini, known as Naqib Khan. The work is now in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art.

Yusuf Ali employs a vivid palette of reds, blues and greens against a muted, greenish terrain. The image is divided horizontally: a sparse, rocky upper section and a densely populated lower register filled with riders, infantry and instrumentalists. An empty chariot occupies the central axis, creating a visual pause amid the surrounding activity.