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Page of disasters, from the Tarikh-i Alfi (History of the Thousand [Years])

Unknown

1595

unspecified

From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art

Mughal Painting Renaissance Renaissance History Painting Mughal School

Dominant colour

Page of disasters, from the Tarikh-i Alfi (History of the Thousand [Years]) is a 1595 unspecified by Unknown, a Mughal Painting work, depicting Mughal School, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.

Who painted this?: Unknown
When & what style?: 1595 · Mughal Painting
Where can I see it?: Cleveland Museum of Art

About this work

You see a busy scene: hailstones the size of fists smash roofs in Egypt, while a jagged crack splits the earth in Syria. This tiny painting was part of a giant history book Akbar ordered to mark the 1,000th year of Islam. The artist squeezed two disasters onto one page—one caused by weather, the other by the ground itself. The ruler in the story hated a group of Muslims, so the disasters were painted as punishment. Look up more paintings from the Mughal school.

The story of this work

Overview

The 1,000th anniversary of Islam, according to the Hijri calendar followed by the Mughals and all Muslims, occurred during Akbar’s reign in 1592. He commemorated this milestone in many ways, including the commissioning of a new history of the Islamic world since the death of the Prophet Muhammad in 632. The episode discussed on this page took place during the 800s, when hailstorms beset Egypt and an earthquake hit Syria. The ruling caliph at the time was strongly prejudiced against Muslims who belonged to the Shi‘ite branch of Islam. Akbar seemed to be asking his artists to emphasize the…