Mahliqa, Daughter of the Emperor of China, Pointing at the Bird-Man Khwaja Mubarak: A Leaf from a Poetical Romance Relating to Shah Alam I (verso); Stenciled Scenes of Lion and Gazelle (verso)

The painting, titled Mahliqa, Daughter of the Emperor of China, Pointing at the Bird-Man Khwaja Mubarak (verso) with Stenciled Scenes of Lion and Gazelle (verso), was created around 1710 in the Mughal Empire by an unknown hand. It forms a leaf from a poetical romance associated with Shah Alam I. The work entered the Cleveland Museum of Art in 2013 as accession 2013.336 and remains in the museum's collection. No earlier owners or specific commission are recorded in the available sources.

The work presents a bifurcated composition: on the left a hybrid bird‑man figure, perched beneath a tree and gazing downward, while on the right a group of women in vivid, patterned garments stand beside an imposing pillar, their attention directed toward the creature. A walled city with domed structures rises in the distance, framed by garden foliage and a low fence.

Illustrated romances were a popular medium for courtly entertainment in Mughal India, blending Persian literary traditions with local artistic conventions. The inclusion of a Chinese imperial daughter highlights the period’s fascination with distant dynasties, while the bird‑man figure draws on Central Asian folklore, illustrating the cultural syncretism that characterized Mughal visual narratives.