Mariam Makani

About this work

This painting shows a single royal woman in a boat on a river. She sits under a red canopy, dressed in white, with a calm river and distant boats behind her. The scene comes from Akbar’s royal history, though the chronicles don’t mention her—just the journey itself. The artist Tulsi painted this for a royal book around 1590. Only one woman appears here, likely guarding the women’s quarters. It matches another painting of the emperor’s trip, but this one focuses just on her. Check out another boat scene by Tulsi at the Victoria and Albert Museum.