Khalis repays the prince for his kindness by changing into a snake and sucking the poison from the king’s daughter, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighteenth Night

The painting depicts a narrative from the Tuti-nama, a 16th-century Persian illustrated manuscript, showing the moment when the loyal minister Khalis transforms into a snake to extract poison from the king’s daughter. Executed in 1560 during the Mughal period, it exemplifies the synthesis of Persian storytelling and Indian courtly artistic traditions. Its composition and symbolic use of metamorphosis reflect broader themes explored in Mughal manuscript painting, where moral allegory intertwines with visual innovation.

The work is held in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art and contributes to scholarly discussions on cross-cultural narrative transmission in early modern Eurasian art.

The miniature illustrates a narrative episode from the eighteenth night of the Tuti‑nama, a Persian collection of fables. A brightly coloured figure in orange leans on a staff, observing a scene in which a man in green and white reclines on a bed beside a sleeping woman. A serpent coils around the woman’s arm, while a servant offers a pitcher, all set against a blue background adorned with stylised floral motifs.

The composition depicts the moment when Khalis, repaying a prince’s kindness, transforms into a snake to draw poison from the king’s daughter, thereby saving her life. The presence of the servant with a pitcher suggests the ritual of cleansing, while the attentive onlooker underscores the moral emphasis on gratitude and self‑sacrifice within the tale.