Page from Tales of a Parrot (Tuti-nama): text page

The manuscript page depicting a parrot from the Tuti-nama was created in 1560 in the Mughal Empire and is housed in the Cleveland Museum of Art. It forms part of a dispersed illustrated manuscript whose dispersed folios are held in several institutions including the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Chester Beatty Library. The work's compositional motifs and narrative framing have been cited as influential on later Persian and Ottoman book arts, particularly in the treatment of didactic animal fables. Its inclusion in major museum collections has contributed to scholarly attention on early modern transregional artistic exchange.

The object is a single leaf from the illustrated manuscript Tales of a Parrot (Tuti‑nama). It consists of a handwritten page in a graceful Persian cursive, occupying most of the surface within a thin red margin. The paper, now warm‑toned with subtle brown spotting, bears a small blue ink mark near the top and a brief line of text at the bottom that appears to be a signature or marginal note.

The page contains narrative text from the Tales of a Parrot, a collection of moral and romantic stories traditionally presented in Persian courtly literature. Although the illustration itself is absent, the script conveys the literary content intended for an aristocratic audience, specifically addressing a patron named Prince Salim, whose name is referenced in the dedication.

The calligraphy is executed in a flowing Nastaʿlīq script, noted for its elegant, slanted strokes and harmonious proportions. Ink is applied with a fine reed pen, producing uniform lines that contrast with the warm, slightly fibrous paper. A thin red border frames the text, a decorative element common in Safavid‑era manuscripts, while the isolated blue mark suggests a correction or annotation made by a later hand.