The dervish brings in as dowry an elephant laden with gold, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Seventh Night
1560
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
1560
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
A wild-eyed holy man in a leopard-skin skirt leads a huge elephant piled high with gold. The king sits on a throne, surprised. This painting comes from a book of parrot tales told to a Mughal emperor. The story is pure fairy-tale logic: a poor dervish outwits everyone to win the princess. Look at the tiny gold coins spilling off the elephant’s back—they’re painted with real gold leaf. To see more stories like this, look up mughal india, court of akbar (reigned 1556–1605).
