Akbar supervising the capture of wild elephants at Malwa in 1564, painting 90 from an Akbar-nama (Book of Akbar) of Abu’l Fazl (Indian 1551–1602)
1704
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
1704
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
You see Emperor Akbar on horseback, watching as his men chase wild elephants with tame ones. The scene is packed with tiny figures, bright colors, and swirling dust. This painting comes from a book about Akbar’s life, made while he was still alive. The elephants weren’t just caught—they were trained and fed to calm them down. The borders were added later, in the 1700s, changing the look of the original. If you like this, look up more about made for emperor akbar.
