Open full image Pin

An Illuminated Folio from the Royal Manuscript of the Farhang-i Jahangiri (verso)

Unknown

1608

unspecified

From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art

Baroque Mughal Painting Baroque Court of Jahangir

Dominant colour

An Illuminated Folio from the Royal Manuscript of the Farhang-i Jahangiri (verso) is a 1608 unspecified by Unknown, a Baroque work, depicting Court of Jahangir, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.

Who painted this?: Unknown
When & what style?: 1608 · Baroque
Where can I see it?: Cleveland Museum of Art

About this work

You see a page from a royal dictionary, filled with neat Persian script and a small painting of a man in a turban holding a book. This isn’t just any dictionary—it took 12 years to write and was made for Emperor Jahangir, who ruled Mughal India. The tiny painting shows the scholar who wrote it, surrounded by words he collected. Each page was probably painted by different artists, so no single name is attached. To see more pages like this, look up court of Jahangir (1605–1627).

The story of this work

Overview

Farhang-i Jahāngīrī , one of the most complete and authoritative dictionaries of the Persian language, was compiled by Mir Jamal al-Din Husayn Inju. It took him 12 years to compile over 9,000 words with definitions and examples from verses by Persian poets. He was born in Shiraz, Iran, but lived most of his life in Agra, India, so the dictionary was named honor of the Mughal emperor Jahangir, who reigned from 1605 to 1627.

Read the full account in the museum source.