Iran

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Revisiting a Royal Sultanate Manuscript from

Bengal: The Sharafnama of Nasir al-Din Nusrat
Shah of 938/1531–2

Emily Shovelton

To cite this article: Emily Shovelton (2021) Revisiting a Royal Sultanate Manuscript from
Bengal: The Sharafnama of Nasir al-Din Nusrat Shah of 938/1531–2, Iran, 59:2, 225-244, DOI:
10.1080/05786967.2021.1911759

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/05786967.2021.1911759

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IRAN
2021, VOL. 59, NO. 2, 225–244
https://doi.org/10.1080/05786967.2021.1911759

Revisiting a Royal Sultanate Manuscript from Bengal: The Sharafnama

of Nasir al-Din Nusrat Shah of 938/1531–2
Emily Shovelton
Khalili Research Centre, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

ABSTRACT KEYWORDS
The subject of this paper is a striking copy of the Sharafnama by Nizami dated 938/1531–2, made Bengal; Indian Sultanates;
for the ruler of Bengal, Nusrat Shah (r.1519–32). This slim volume contains nine vibrant paintings Sharafnama; Nizami;
that show the assimilation of both Indic and Persian artistic traditions: adaptations common to Sultanate manuscripts
several fifteenth-century manuscripts from the Indian sultanates. However, there are no other
surviving manuscripts that were produced in the court of the Bengal Sultanate, and no
evidence of commercial workshops in the region. Therefore, it is a challenge to situate this
Sharafnama. Since the manuscript was published some forty years ago, there have been only a
few cursory mentions in general discussions. This paper aims to contextualise this manuscript
within Indo-Persian pictorial and narrative traditions. The Sharafnama can be better understood
in this context of both local traditions and wider Persianate culture.

Introduction
conspicuously in architecture. Local forms were
The Sultanate State of Bengal was formed nearly sixty years adopted for both temples and more recently introduced
before Timur’s attack on Delhi in 1398, which precipitated Islamic buildings such as mosques, but also in a single
the formation of a number of other independent sultanate remaining illustrated manuscript: the Sharafnama for
states across the Indian subcontinent. Conventional histor- Nasir al-Din Nusrat Shah of Bengal (r.1519–1532).
iography has tended to view the so-called long fifteenth- This manuscript, now in the British Library, dated
century that followed, up until 1526 when Babur invaded, 938/1531–2, is the focus of this article.
as an uneventful and unremarkable era. More recent scho- Nusrat Shah’s copy of Nizami’s Sharafnama is a key
larship presents a different picture. Although the political document in understanding aspects of the development
structure was fractured, with multiple states and no domi- of the art of the book in South Asia, and also offers an
nant imperial power, each state fostered a rich cultural life.1 insight into the interconnected word of the sultanates
Each region had its own local identity and developed in of India. A study of its distinctive painting style reveals
singular if overlapping ways. a complex assimilation of different visual traditions that
Bengal was one of the earliest states to break away reflect the cultural environment of the Bengal Sultanate.
from central rule, and therefore had a longer history It is the only surviving illustrated manuscript with Per-
of regional identity embedded in local political and cul- sian text from this region at this time or earlier, and one
tural models, despite following Islamic ideology and of a small number that can be associated with a sultanate
Persianate cultural traditions.2 Hindu aristocrats had ruler.3 Furthermore, it was produced just after Babur
prominent positions in government and, while the Per- conquered Delhi, but before a sizeable Mughal atelier
sian language was still an important part of elite culture, had been established, so stands as an example of what
Bengali was used more widely. The political position of might be found in a Sultan’s library before any impact
independence and local rule, alongside more global of the Mughals. Yet since Robert Skelton’s initial pres-
aspirations, can also be traced through the cultural heri- entation of the manuscript in 1978, it has not received
tage of Bengal during the sultanate years, perhaps most any other focused attention.4

CONTACT Emily Shovelton [email protected]

1
Orsini and Sheikh, After Timur Left, 1–2; Eaton, India in the Persianate Age, 105.
2
The other sultanate state to form at a relatively early stage was the Bahmani dynasty in the Deccan, established in 1347. The most significant sultanate states
in India during the long fifteenth century in the north subcontinent were Delhi, Jaunpur, Malwa, Bengal and Gujarat.
3
The only other manuscripts that can be associated with a sultanate ruler are those produced at the court of Mandu in the state of Malwa. See Losty, Art of the
book, 66–8, cat nos. 40–3, and also see notes.9 and 96 below.
4
Skelton, “The Iskandar Nama of Nusrat Shah”.
© 2021 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-
nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built
upon in any way.
226 E. SHOVELTON

Material culture from the sultanate states of the multiple cultures interlinked both at a local level
northern subcontinent is often summed up as pre- and across different states, either between courts or
Mughal without a sense of regional identity; it is less elsewhere.
clear-cut and easy to categorise than that of the Deccan.
The art of the Deccan sultanates from the sixteenth to
Historical Context
eighteenth centuries has been researched, published
and exhibited significantly in the last two decades.5 The Turkish cavalry arrived in Bengal in 1204, initiating
Studies of courtly painting and manuscripts have been centuries of Sultanate rule in the region. However, Ben-
particularly significant and we now have a much richer gal was geographically removed from Delhi, so although
image of the artistic world of the Deccan.6 Scholarship is the successive governors of the Delhi Sultanate followed
also increasing for fifteenth-century material culture in by independent Sultans brought with them a new reli-
the Deccan, although this remains more obscure than gion and culture, regional culture was not eliminated
that of later centuries.7 but was in dialogue with these new cultural traditions.11
The art of the book in the north subcontinent Throughout the thirteenth century, governors of the
during the long fifteenth century can be traced Delhi Sultanate were repeatedly rebelling, determined
through the survival of a small group of manuscripts to be independent of central government based so far
and loose folios.8 Aside from the Mandu manuscripts away. Finally, the Sultanate state of Bengal was estab-
commissioned by the Sultans of Malwa, including the lished in 1342 by Shams al-Din Ilyas (r.1342–57) and
well-known Niʿmatnama,9 most of these manuscripts lasted until 1576. Shams al-Din Ilyas and his successors
lack colophons, inscriptions or seal impressions, and saw themselves as not only part of the pan-Islamic world
therefore their date or place of origin are not known - even sponsoring madrasas in Mecca12 – but they also
for certain. In order to locate this material in time adopted Persianate regal ceremonies and literature.13
and place, detailed studies are necessary that include Alongside these global aspirations, the Sultanate court
all aspects of the codicology, the choice of text, and employed local Hindu aristocrats who gradually became
the relationship between text and image. Art historical more powerful. By the early fifteenth century, the Ilyas
studies have traditionally been based on categorising dynasty was weakened and rebellion led to Raja Ganesh,
and understanding art as hierarchical and naturally a powerful Bengali noble and landowner, gaining con-
progressing from one period in time or style to trol. However, he was not set on re-establishing Brah-
another, yet Sultanate material is disparate and cannot manical kingship and instead eventually placed his
be organised in this way, which may explain why this newly converted twelve-year old son Sultan Jalal al-
material is often overlooked. Sultanate states across Din Muhammad on the throne in 1415.14 This marked
the subcontinent fostered an elite court life based lar- a turning point for the political history of this region, in
gely on Persianate culture. However, local Indic cul- that Bengali Hindus were now fully integrated into the
ture had a significant impact on the production of ruling structure. A Chinese traveller who visited the
manuscripts, evident most conspicuously in the court at this time mentions that Persian was understood
diverse and inventive styles of painting.10 The surviv- but that Bengali was the universal language. Jalal al-Din
ing illustrated manuscripts represent a visual docu- had a particularly close affiliation with the Chishti
ment of how literary and pictorial traditions from order,15 who became even more fundamental in
5
For a recent and ground-breaking exhibition catalogue see Haidar and Sardar Sultans of the South, and for a summary of recent scholarship see Singh, Scent
upon a Southern Breeze, 12–13.
6
More recently Keelan Overton’s edited volume Iran and the Deccan is a significant new addition to Deccani studies, particularly the article by Overton herself
along with Kristine Rose-Beers on the St Andrews Qur’an; “Indo-Persian Histories from the Object Out”.
7
Philon, “The Solah Khamba Mosque at Bidar”.
8
Key publications for fifteenth-century manuscripts include: Brac de la Perrière, L’Art du livre dans l’Inde des sultanats; Orsini and Sheikh, After Timur Left and
Flood, “Before the Mughals”.
9
Skelton, “The Nimatnama: A Landmark in Malwa Painting” and Titley, The Ni‘matnama Manuscript.
10
A significant number of manuscripts survive that pertain to the Jain or Hindu faith. In some cases particularly strong connections can be made between
craftsmen working on Jain or Hindu manuscripts and those producing Persian manuscripts. One copy of the Shahnama was even illustrated by Jain artists;
see Goswany, A Jainesque Sultanate Shahnama. Illustrated Jain manuscripts survive from the fifteenth century, produced in a number of locations including
Gujarat, Mandu and Jaunpur, usually written in Prakrit. These Jain manuscripts survive in greater numbers than Hindu texts, possibly because they were
preserved in Jain monasteries (see Losty, Art of the book, pp. 58–62). Khosla, “The Visual Language of the North Indian Styles of Painting.”
11
Eaton, The Rise of Islam, 33.
12
Jalal al-Din (see note 17 below) patronised a madrasa, or religious college, in Mecca. The requested and received a robe of honour and letter of recognition
from the Mamluk sultan Sultan Ashraf Barsbay. Later, he even proclaimed himself ‘caliph of Allah in the universe’ in an inscription on one of his mosques.
Eaton, The Rise of Islam, 57.
13
See below ‘Connections with a wider Persianate World’.
14
Eaton, India in the Persianate Age, 111
15
Although ironically, this was the same Chisthi Shaikh who had strongly opposed his father, see Eaton, India in the Persianate Age, 112.
 IRAN 227

supporting royal authority, but he also patronised some of the paintings from a dispersed copy of this
Sanskrit literature. Richard Eaton points out that he text can be linked to the Sharafnama paintings, as will
seems to have been trying to convey different messages be shown below.21 In many ways these manuscripts
to different constituencies in his kingdom. This are the epitome of a cross-cultural dialogue that charac-
dual message is conveyed in his coinage, which revives terises this period, in both text and images.
the Muslim creed, while also including the motif of a
lion; this may relate to devotees of the Goddess
who would see the lion as the vehicle (vāhana) of Iskandar in Bengal
Durga.16 The Khamsa (quintet) of Nizami (d.1209) had been
In the 1460s and 1470s Abyssinian military slaves popular in South Asia since at least the early four-
were employed in Bengal for military and civil service teenth century. Amir Khusraw (1253–1325), one of
and quickly became so powerful that they led a coup the greatest Indian Sufi poets writing in Persian, com-
d’état in 1486; after seven years of war, a Meccan Arab posed his own Khamsa as a javāb or reply to Nizami’s
who had risen in rank under his Abyssinian patron tri- quintet.22 Amir Khusraw was connected with the
umphed in another palace coup and launched the court in Delhi for over thirty years. His last patron
Husayn Shahi dynasty.17 Husayn Shah (r.1493–1519), before he died was the Delhi Sultan Muhammad ibn
Nusrat Shah’s father, is lauded by later historians for Tughluq (1325–1351), who was known for his knowl-
his intelligence and open-minded views. Bengali Hindus edge of Persian literary works and was said to be par-
were now even more prominent that ever before, being ticularly keen on Nizami’s Sikandarnama.23 This is the
given chief governing roles.18 Husayn Shah fostered a last narrative poem of the Khamsa, based on the life
distinctive Bengali Persianate culture that was more of Iskandar, or Alexander the Great. Iskandar was a
embedded in local customs, continued by his son Nusrat recurring figure in keys works of Persian literature,
Shah, which gave rise to new developments in architec- including Nizami’s Khamsa, where he was viewed as
ture, language and literature. Architecture combined “world-conqueror, ideal king … philosopher, mystic
Islamicate styles from north India, Central Asia and and prophet”.24
the Middle East with local traditions, building materials Iskandar appears in Firdausi’s Shahnama for the first
and ornament. time as a legitimate Persian king, while Nizami’s version
The appearance of vernacular languages in written is the most well-known story of his life written in poetic
form was an important development of the fifteenth form, along with the later versions by Amir Khusraw
century, not just in Bengal but elsewhere in India too. and also Jami (d.1492). Reference to Iskandar’s conquest
Perhaps the most emblematic literary creations that of north India and encounters with Brahmins in Persian
reflect this multicultural world were the Hindavi Sufi literature, brought India into the Persian cosmopolis;
romances (prema-kahānī) that were composed in east- and by identifying themselves with Iskandar, rulers in
ern India from the late fourteenth to mid-sixteenth cen- India could see their realms as part of a wider Persianate
turies.19 This new genre was inaugurated by the Chishti world.25 Alongside this broader context, each region
Sufi Maulana Da’ud who wrote his Chandayan in a ver- developed their own relationship with the Iskandar
nacular language, Avadhi, in 1379 in a provincial court stories.26
in north-east India.20 This text is written in Arabic Did the figure of Iskandar and the stories of his tra-
script and is based on both Persian romances and vel, conquest and mystical encounters directly appeal
local folk stories and Hindu mythology and deities. to Bengali sultans? The founder of the Bengal sultanate
During the Sultanate period the Chandayan was the state Shams al-Din Ilyas describes himself, on his coin-
most popular Hindavi romance for illustration, and age, as “the second Iskandar, the right hand of the
16
Eaton, The Rise of Islam, 58–60.
17
Ibid., 63.
18
His chief minister, chief of bodyguards, master of the mint, private secretary and physician were all Bengali Hindus, see The Rise of Islam, 63 and Eaton India in
the Persianate Age, 113.
19
Behl, Love’s Subtle Magic.
20
Ibid., 59.
21
Losty, Art of the book, 69, cat no.45. For the earliest illustrated version of the Chandayan, now in the Staatsbibliothek Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Orientabtei-
lung, Berlin, Ms. Or. Fol.3014; Ibid, 63, cat no.34.
22
“Amīr Khosrow Dehlavī.” Encyclopaedia Iranica, see iranicaonline.org. Accessed February 15, 2020. https://iranicaonline.org/articles/amir-kosrow-poet
23
Law, Promotion of Learning in India, 44–5.
24
Milstein, “Picturing the Archetypal King: Iskandar in Islamic Art,” 52.
25
These points are made and explored by Owen Cornwall, see Cornwall, “Alexander and the Persian Cosmopolis,” 12–3. Interestingly, Cornwall also states that
all fifteen pre-modern commentaries, dating to the sixteenth century onwards, on Nizami’s Iskandarnama were produced in India, Ibid, 98.
26
Cornwall, “Alexander and the Persian Cosmopolis,” 13.
228 E. SHOVELTON

caliphate … ”.27 Owen Cornwall notes that Nizami was in the British Library dating to c.1450–75.33 The paint-
probably the first to use the epithet for Iskandar s āh ib- ings within the Sharafnama differ considerably to both
qirān (Lord of the Auspicious Conjunction), an astro- these earlier Sultanate copies, as outlined below.
logical term for the conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter The methodical organisation, the use of gold, the
that became widely used for rulers.28 Shams al-Din vibrant paintings and the neat and distinctive naskh
was not the only ruler to associate himself with Iskan- are all fitting for a manuscript of royal status (Figure
dar. Rulers across the Middle East styled themselves 1). The colophon is written in an oval medallion in Ara-
s āh ib-qirān which directly linked them to the messianic bic on the last folio of the manuscript.34 The calligra-
rule of Iskandar; Timur became closely associated with pher Ahmad, called Hamid Khan, mentions the
this title, mostly after his death.29 Later s āh ib-qirān patron Nasir al-Din Nusrat Shah and the date 938/
would become a revered title by Ottomans, Safavids 1531–2 (Figure 2).35 Throughout the manuscript, alter-
and Mughals alike.30 As we will see below through an nate pages have gold-sprinkled text areas, and similarly
exploration of Nusrat Shah’s patronage, he was clearly the titles and colophon are inscribed in alternating blue
concerned with global ideas of kingship, while being and gold naskh. The manuscript opens with a double
aligned with local customs and traditions. Although page frontispiece (Figure 3); each side with 13 lines of
he did not adopt the name Iskandar on his coinage, couplets encased in panels of illumination, mostly in
like his forebears, it could be argued that the stories of blue and gold.36 The liberal use of gold and lapis blue
Iskandar were likely to have still had resonance for gives it a striking appearance, although the detail of
this Bengali Muslim ruler. the illuminated design is relatively loose. The palette
and composition – including all details such as the
types of red and white floral elements, the gold car-
A Royal Sultanate Manuscript
touches and the geometric knot design picked out in
The manuscript commissioned by Nusrat Shah that black – closely resemble certain Turkman illuminated
forms the focus of this study is a copy of the first half designs from the late fifteenth century, such as the illu-
of the Sikandarnama, the Sharafnama.31 The earliest minated panels in a Khamsa of Nizami completed in
illustrated copies of Nizami’s Khamsa date to the late 893/1487–8 for the Aq Qoyunlu prince Masih Mirza
fourteenth century.32 The earliest surviving versions (d.1491).37
that were produced in the Indian subcontinent are There are nine paintings, all rendered in bold col-
two copies produced in the same workshop, one now ours.38 The paintings are all situated between lines of

27
Eaton, The Rise of Islam, 33, 41
28
Cornwall goes on to suggest that even if future research reveals that Nizami was not indeed the first, he certainly was the one to ennoble the epithet, see
Cornwall, “Alexander and the Persian Cosmopolis,” 92–3. Moin does not mention Nizami in his discussion on the Lord of the Conjunction, See Moin, The
Millennial Sovereign, 23–55.
29
Moin, The Millennial Sovereign, 35–6. Ibn Khaldun gives Timur the messianic title Lord of the Conjunction, comparing him to great emperors of the past,
including Iskandar, see Moin, The Millennial Sovereign, 26–8, 31.
30
Moin sheds new light on the use of this term by the Timurids, and later adoption by the Mughals, and on the notion of sacred kingship more broadly. The
Millennial Sovereign, 23–55.
31
The manuscript has been renumbered since entering the British Library, and the new numbering system will be used for folio numbers rather than that used
in the Colnaghi catalogue in Skelton, “The Iskandar Nama of Nusrat Shah.”
32
Two of the earliest are an undated late fourteenth centuy Khamsa of Nizami from the Keir Collection, see Canby, Persian Painting, 39–40, figs. 21–22, and a
Khamsa of Nizami dated 776/1374, Topkapı Saray, H. 1510, see O’Kane, “The Bibihani Anthology”, and Wright, The Look of the Book, 164. Another early copy of
the Khamsa of Nizami, dating 767/1366, was written in Western Iran with gaps for illustration, although the paintings were added later in Ottoman Turkey.
See Brend, “A 14th-century Khamseh.”
33
One of these copies is dispersed but the greater part of manuscript was recently acquired by the British Library (Or.16919), and is the subject of a future
publication by the current author. The illustrations in the other copy, produced in the same workshop, were curiously cut out and stuck into a later manu-
script of the same text that is now in the Biblioteca dell’Academia Nazionale dei Lincei in Rome (Ms. Or.17). See Shovelton, “Sultanate Painting from the North
Indian Subcontinent,” 67–110 and Brac de la Perrière, “The Art of the Book in India”, 309–10, nos 3 and 4 in the ‘first group’ of manuscripts.
34
Interestingly, the shape and style of illumination recall the empty dedication device in a Shahnama dated 1438, (British Library, Or.1403) that Barbara Brend
argued convincingly is a Sultanate manuscript, see Brend, “The British Library’s Shahnama of 1438”. For a more recent view on this manuscript, see Firouzeh,
“Convention and Reinvention”, and for the empty dedication device, see Ibid, 55, fig. 8.
35
Skelton translated the colophon with the help of Melikian-Chirvani as follows: “Written to the command of the Sultan, the Exalted One, the possessor of
brilliant virtues and eminent degrees, who possesses all the felicities – whoever obeys him partakes of these and whoever … is privileged – The Sultan,
son of the Sultan, Protector of the World and the Religion, Abu’l-Muzaffar Nusrat Shah, the Sultan, son of Husayn Shah, the Sultan – may God make his
dominion and power everlasting together and his descendants and army until the day of judgement - (written by) the weakest of servants, who entreats
his worshipful Majesty, Ahmad, called Hamid Khan the son of Mahmud in the year nine hundred and thirty eight of the flight of the Prophet (i.e. 1531–2),” see
Skelton, “The Iskandar Nama of Nusrat Shah,” 137.
36
There are 29 lines of text on folios without illustrations.
37
Folio 31v from a Khamsa of Nizami, produced in 893/1487–8 in Shiraz, the Al-Sabah Collection, Kuwait, Inv. No. LNS 28 ms, see Adamova and Bayani, Persian
Painting, 304. Many Iranian manuscripts, often from Shiraz, made their way to India from the fourteenth century onwards; this manuscript was probably in a
royal library in sultanate India by the early sixteenth century, not long after it was made, see Ibid, 297.
38
The size of the written area is 23.3×13.8 cm. The paintings range from 14.7 to 17.3 cm in height by 13.9 cm in width.
 IRAN 229

Figure 1. Iskandar visits the hermit, Sharafnama, © British

Library Board, Or.13836, f.41v. Figure 2. Colophon, Sharafnama, © British Library Board,
Or.13836, f.72r.

text, ranging from three to six. Each illustration

features the protagonist Iskandar; he is shown at 1375, in the newly established capital of Pandua.39 It
battle in two scenes, enthroned in six scenes, and also remains the largest mosque ever built in the Indian sub-
visiting a hermit (Figure 1). The paintings are in continent and is closer in size and form to pre-Islamic
some ways unique with many distinctive features, monuments in Iran than mosques in Delhi.40 An
however, there are number of visual connections that inscription on the Adina mosque proclaims that the Sul-
can be made with other Iranian and South Asian tan Sikandar was the most perfect among kings of Ara-
manuscripts. bia and Persia.41 Persian poets were known to have
migrated to Bengal; Sultan Ghiyath al-Din A’zam
Shah (r.1389–1410) even tried to persuade the
Connections with a Wider Persianate World
renowned Shirazi poet Hafiz to travel from Shiraz to
Since Shams al-Din Ilyas founded the first Sultanate Bengal although he never came, the poet did correspond
dynasty in Bengal, a Persian model of political authority with the Bengali sultan.42 Contact with the wider Persia-
was maintained and cultural links with Iran were estab- nate world, through language and culture, alongside
lished. His son and successor Sultan Sikandar (r.1357– local traditions and dialects, seemed to characterise
89) built the vast Adina mosque that was completed in the early decades of the independent sultanate. This

39
Asher, “Inventory of Key Monuments,” 109–10.
40
The mosque recalls the great Taq-i Kisra in Ctesiphon, rather than mosques built by the Delhi Sultans. These early Bengali sultans seemed keen for their
architecture to reflect ‘an imperial strategy of legitimisation’, see Eaton, The Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier, 47.
41
Eaton, The Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier, 50.
42
Haq, Muslim Bengali Literature, 34.
230 E. SHOVELTON

Figure 3. Frontispiece, Sharafnama, © British Library Board, Or.13836, ff.4v-5r.

cultural dialogue continued through the fifteenth cen- where they were searched again; this went on until
tury and under the Husayn Shahis, despite the interven- they reached the ninth and final gate where they saw a
ing years of the Abyssinian rule and their own Meccan great courtyard with horsemen playing polo:
Arab heritage.
A vivid description of Nusrat Shah’s court is provided At the end of said courtyard a great dais was set upon
thick props of sandalwood, and those above, upon
by an anonymous visitor and is the only surviving, which the roof rested, were not as thick, all carved
detailed, contemporary account of the palace itself and with … many gilded branches and small birds, and the
the rituals and environment surrounding the ruler. This ceiling above in the same manner with … a moon and
anonymous diplomat was part of a Portuguese mission a sun, with [a] very great number of stars and all gilded.45
to Bengal, and describes his visit to the sultan’s impress-
They finally encountered the Sultan, seated in splen-
ive and elaborate court: both the physical splendour, the
dour on a large gilded divan covered with
armed guards and the ceremony of gift giving and defer-
ential behaviour that visitors were obliged to display.43 … a very large store of great and small pillows, all
When arriving at the gate the Portuguese entourage embroidered, and with many precious stones and
were searched “as far as our hair, to see if we carried seed-pearls on them, and coming before him, we
any arms”, and he then goes on to describe the first made our reverence to him according to the custom
of the land, being with the hands crossed upon the
gate with two vaulted towers, each with four spires,
chest and the head bowed as low as possible.46
one of which was topped with a large sphere of gold,
and guarded by bare-chested soldiers carrying swords Nusrat Shah was delighted by the grey Arabian horse the
and shields.44 They then proceeded to the next gate Portuguese brought him. However, relations turned
43
The author of this sixteenth-century manuscript is anonymous. He records the travels of a Portuguese embassy visiting the king of Bengal at Gaur, for which
he is the interpreter. The manuscript is entitled Lembrança dalgumas coussas que se passaram quando Amtonio de Bryto e Dyogo Pereyra foram a Bemgalla asy
em Bengala como em Tanaçaiym e em Pegu onde tambem fomos (Remembrance of some things which happened when Antonio de Brito and Diogo Pereira
went to Bengal, thus in Bengal, as in Tenasserim, and in Pegu, where also we went). The author begins his account by noting that his entourage left Chit-
tagong on 13 October 1521. See Smith, The First Age of the Portuguese Embassies, 81.
44
See Smith, The First Age of the Portuguese Embassies, 90.
45
Ibid., 90.
46
Ibid., 90.
 IRAN 231

sour some days later and the author, the interpreter, ruled text-block with four columns of text, and the
describes how he translated a letter from Portuguese arrangement of the illustrated folios with paintings
into Persian, the language of the court, and managed inserted between lines of text. Within the paintings
to appease the ruler.47 The polo field at the centre of there are a number of iconographic elements that derive
the court, the elaborate royal dais and the ceremonial from fifteenth-century Shiraz painting: the high curved
etiquette all seem to derive from Persian court culture. horizon, the high-backed, flat, schematic thrones and
Like Gujarat, Bengal was a centre of maritime trade costume details, such as cloud collars on Iskandar’s
with the Middle East, China and Europe, and rulers robe. The unusual rock formations in the scene of
had diplomatic relations with other parts of the Islamic “Iskandar visits the hermit” (Figure 1) are somewhat
world. The prosperous and powerful state that Nusrat reminiscent of fourteenth-century painting from Shiraz,
Shah and his father created was largely based on this a much pared-down version of which can also be found
successful trade in a number of commodities, including in paintings within Jain manuscripts and in a Sultanate
silk and cotton. Ludovico de Varthema, who visited Hamzanama from c.1450–75.53 The cloud formations
Gaur between 1503–1508, recorded: “Fifty ship are and skies in the Sharafnama are highly distinctive features
laden every year in this place with cotton and silk of this manuscript, aspects of which can be linked with
stuffs … . These same stuffs go through all Turkey, illustrations in South Asian manuscripts, discussed
through Syria, through Persia, through Arabia Felix, below. The basic form of chinoiserie clouds, set against
through Ethiopia, and through all India.”48 Therefore, a gold or blue background, and the high horizon line,
by the reign of Nusrat Shah Bengal was a major centre are most likely derived from a Shirazi manuscript of the
for Asian trade.49 Duarte Barbosa, writing about Bengal commercial Turkman school.54 There is nothing however,
from traveller’s accounts, mentions wealthy urban mer- that can be linked with any specific Iranian paintings,
chants in their “white cotton smocks … and daggers unlike two manuscript produced in Mandu, that reference
garnished with silver and gold,” and that Gaur has Turkman manuscripts.55 Instead, I would follow Robert
large population of “strangers from many lands such Skelton’s argument that the Sharafnama is not directly
as Arabs, Persians … and Indians.”50 Aside from the derived from any particular style, but Persian elements
Sharafnama under discussion, there are no other surviv- have clearly been assimilated at an earlier date into manu-
ing manuscripts that can be attributed to Nusrat Shah’s scripts produced in the Bengal court, perhaps earlier in the
patronage, and there is also a lack of source material on fifteenth century, that no longer exist.56
his reign.51 However, from the limited available histori- There are number of other unusual features in the
cal accounts it is clear that Bengali sultans and wealthy compositions and iconography of the Sharafnama
individuals certainly had the wherewithal and contacts paintings. Consider, for example, the first illustration
through trade and diplomacy to acquire works of litera- in the manuscript of “Iskandar and his forces defeating
ture from Iran, for example, and from other Sultanate the army of the men of Zang” (Figure 4). Here the Zang
states in South Asia throughout the fifteenth and into cavalrymen are depicted with blue skin, whereas usually
the sixteenth centuries.52 in illustrations of this episode in Iranian manuscripts,
The Sharafnama follows the Iranian manuscript tra- and later Mughal versions, the army is shown with a
dition in a number of ways: the vertical page format, the dark complexion.57 Multiple figures are shown in this

47
After some days in Gaur the author hears that the King has decreed that he will have the Portuguese beheaded and the author was alarmed as since he was
the interpreter he would be beheaded first. The author attempts to deliver a letter from Antonio de Brito that he has translated from Portuguese to Persian,
“their language”, and he then manages to persuade the king not to persist in his plan to punish the Portuguese. His manuscript ends with a note that he left
the king of Bengal as a friend. See Smith, The First Age of the Portuguese Embassies, 92–3.
48
Ludovico de Varthema, The Travels of Ludovico di Varthema, 212; Eaton, The Rise of Islam, 97.
49
Eaton, The Rise of Islam, 97.
50
Duarte Barbosa, Book of Duarte Barbosa, 135–9, 147.
51
There may possibly be manuscripts yet to discover in library and private collections in India that were commissioned by Nusrat Shah. Also, certain Shirazi
manuscripts collected in India may have been owned by his ruler, but this is impossible to verify from manuscripts known to date. See note 37.
52
Ghosh, “Problems of Reconstructing Bengali Architecture,” 94. For a discussion on the importation of manuscripts from Shiraz to Gujarat in India, during the
1430s and 1440s, see Shovelton, “The Shiraz Connection.”
53
“Hamza finds treasure at the top of the island,” Staatsbibliothek Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Orientabteilung, Berlin, Or.fol.4181, f.73r, see Doshi, “Colour, Motif
and Arabesque,” fig 14. For another folio from this manuscript see Figure 12 below.
54
For example a Shahnama dated 979/1475 from Shiraz, of the Turkman commercial style; Keir Collection, 284a,III.161, see Brend and Melville, Epic of the Persian
Kings, 154–5.
55
See note. 96
56
Skelton, “The Iskandar Nama of Nusrat Shah,” 144.
57
For example a Khamsa of Nizami, dated 1446, made in Iran, now in the National Library of Israel, Ms. Yah. Ar. 1003, https://isaw.nyu.edu/exhibitions/romance-
reason/rrobjects/iskandar-fights-zangi; and a later Mughal version, from c.1618, in the Pierpont Morgan Library and Museum, MS M.445, fol. 271r, https://
www.themorgan.org/collection/treasures-of-islamic-manuscript-painting/112. An obvious association with the colour blue is the skin tone of Krishna, but this
subject needs more research to understand the significance.
232 E. SHOVELTON

Figure 4. “Iskandar and his forces defeating the army of the

men of Zang,” Sharafnama, © British Library Board, Or.13836, Figure 5. “Iskandar defeats the Russians in battle,” Sharafnama,
f.17v. © British Library Board, Or.13836, f.61r.

scene. Arranged in three tiers, the armies confront each that has been ascribed an Indian provenance. These
other on horseback, except for a few foot soldiers in the manuscripts of disputed origin are largely overlooked
foreground.58 Indeed, one of the differences between the by scholars and, when addressed, the provenance –
Sharafnama paintings and Iranian models is the way the either Iranian, Indian or elsewhere – is not fully
composition is layered in three horizontal zones, with resolved.60
the figures and horses in the lowest layer shown smaller Other unusual aspects of the Sharafnama paintings
in scale, a characteristic unknown in manuscripts from are the architectural depictions. The rendering of cer-
Iran (Figures 4 and 5). The layering of the composition, amic tile designs on the palace building, in the painting
and the reduced scale of figures in the foreground, of Iskandar receiving Dara’s message, resemble the type
resembles a little-known dispersed Shahnama, dating of illuminated panels that were commonly employed to
to the mid fifteenth century.59 This manuscript is one embellish a frontispiece, title page or margins of Persian
of a group of illustrated Persian texts, usually poetic, manuscripts (Figure 6). The outer edge of the brick

58
Areas around the cavalrymen in the upper register of the painting, again the gold sky show some unusual erosion. The jagged edges of corrosion around
armour and weaponry may be the result of tin pest (deterioration of tin at low temperatures). I am grateful to Kristine Rose-Beers, Head of Conservation at the
Chester Beatty Library in Dublin for suggesting this. To find out exactly what has caused this, a non-invasive analysis will need to be undertaken.
59
See the folio from this Shahnama, sold at Christie’s, 16 October 2001, lot.87. Another 12 folios from this Shahnama are in the Metropolitan Museum, see
Ekhtiar, Soucek, Canby, and Haidar, Masterpieces from the Department of Islamic Art, 343–4. There are at least another twelve folios scattered in public
and private collections.
60
Fraad and Ettinghausen set out what they considered to be the key criteria for a Persian manuscript to be attributed to India; Fraad and Ettinghausen, “Sul-
tanate Painting in Persian Style”. A condensed and clearer version of the main points of this article can be found in Robinson, Persian Painting in the John
Rylands Library, 95–6. One of the criteria that Ettinghausen and Fraad suggest, as a means of determining a Sultanate provenance, is the presence of ‘out-
moded’ characteristics. However, the current author challenges this viewpoint in a forthcoming article, see Shovelton, “The Shiraz Connection”.
 IRAN 233

text in these margins was written obliquely, leaving

three triangular areas that are often filled with illumi-
nated designs; one in the centre, known as a thumb-
piece, and two cornerpieces.63 Certain marginal
headings were set in an illuminated panel; it is these
ornamented quadrilateral panels, along with thumb-
pieces, that resemble those on the architectural decora-
tion of the outer edge of Iskandar’s palace (Figure 6).64

Finding the Local in the Sharafnama

There are three scenes in the Sharafnama that show
Iskandar enthroned inside a highly ornamented palace;
each has distinctive features. These buildings are sche-
matic and fit with conventions for depicting buildings
in illustrations of Persian and Indic texts but there are
also links to local Bengali architectural traditions. In
the depiction of “Dara’s messenger presenting polo
sticks and a ball and sesame seeds to Iskandar”, Iskandar
is sitting in a brick structure with panels that are prob-
ably intended to represent ceramic decoration, although
they are close to illuminated designs as previously men-
tioned (Figure 6).65 The practice of brick structures
embellished with ceramics had been common in Bengal
since the early fifteenth century.66
Nusrat Shah and his father Husayn Shah were prolific
patrons of architecture, made possible by thriving mar-
itime trade. More recent scholarship has brought to
light the crossovers between temple and mosque archi-
Figure 6. “Dara’s messenger presents polo sticks and a ball and tecture, challenging the traditional art historical narra-
sesame seeds to Iskandar,” Sharafnama, © British Library Board, tive that views architecture in this region only in
Or.13836, f.21v.
terms of religion.67 The buildings they commissioned
employ local materials (usually brick) and techniques.
palace in the painting, running around both sides and Earlier mosques and other buildings pertaining to the
upper edge, is articulated by a series of illuminated Islamic faith, before c.1410, seem more closely related
panels that bring to mind a particular type of margin to imperial power in Delhi or models from the Middle
that appears in Persian manuscripts from the end of East, such as the aforementioned Adina Mosque in Pan-
the fourteenth century onwards.61 From c.1380 to dua.68 In contrast, mosques built in the late fifteenth and
c.1450 there are numerous examples, mostly in manu- early sixteenth centuries adopt local forms and motifs.69
scripts associated with Shiraz, of marginal columns The buildings represented in the Sharafnama are all
added to the three exterior sides of a textblock.62 The palatial buildings but, as no such structure remains

61
Wright, The Look of the Book, 73, fig. 44.
62
Ibid., 128–31.
63
Ibid., 85 and 86, fig. 54.
64
Ibid., 87, fig. 55.
65
This episode recounts the gifts sent by Darius, meant as an insult but Iskandar reinterprets the gifts in his favour; he scatters the gifted sesame seeds on the
ground which are instantly eaten by birds, which Iskandar sees as a symbol of his army devouring the Persian army.
66
John Guy, “The Arts of Pre-Mughal India”, 46. Iranian painting also include buildings, such as palaces and shrines, represented as brick structures embellished
with ceramic panels. In the Iranian examples however, the brick is not depicted in quite the same way with bricks usually running horizontally rather than
vertically or diagonally as in the Sharafnama, ff. 21v and 37v. See for example a Khamsa of Nizami, dated 919/1513, from Shiraz, now in the al-Sabah Collec-
tion in Kuwait; Adamova and Bayani, Persian Painting, 352. Architecture depicted in Iranian painting does not share the same arrangement of ceramic tiles as
those in the Sharafnama paintings.
67
Ghosh, “Problems of Reconstructing Bengali Architecture,” 100–3.
68
Asher, “Inventory of Key Monuments,” 109–10.
69
Hasan, “Sultanate Mosques,” 63–66, 69.
234 E. SHOVELTON

Figure 9. Detail of the ceramic decoration on the palace from

“Dara’s messenger presents polo sticks and a ball and sesame
seeds to Iskandar,” Sharafnama, © British Library Board,
Or.13836, f.21v.

relief ornament on both the exterior and interior, con-

tained in panels with cusped arches, floral elements
and plants with mango fruit; these reliefs are probably
Figure 7. Jami masjid in Bagha, Bangladesh, dated 930/1523,
built by Nusrat Shah. the most outstanding of all the brick carving from this
period and earlier.71
Another illustration within the Sharafnama to fea-
ture architecture is the scene of Iskandar and Queen
Nushaba enthroned. The palace appears to be con-
structed with a number of different materials: brick to
the left and ceramic tiles above (Figure 10). Both the
panels towards the top of the building, in the form of
cartouches, and the balustrade in the form of reciprocal
shapes, seem to have been derived from the forms
usually employed for illumination. The rulers each sit
under a cusped arch and suspended above their heads,
from the apex of the arch, is what Skelton suggests
Figure 8. Detail of the brick relief carving, Jami masjid in Bagha,
Bangladesh, 930/1523.
may be a type of swinging fan (pankha).72 However, it
resembles more closely the bell and chain motif which
is a characteristic feature of Sultanate architecture in
from this period, our points of comparison are mosques, Bengal.73 Similar cusped arches carved in relief, with
tombs and shrines;70 there was a burgeoning number of the bell and chain motif hanging from the apex, adorn
mosques at this time, reflecting the needs of a growing the exterior of the Jami Masjid in Bagha, where they
population of Bengali Muslims. appear at intervals along the wall (Figure 11). Another
The tile designs in the painting of Iskandar receiving feature in this painting of Iskandar enthroned with
Dara’s message comprise a variety of leaves, floral Queen Nushaba that can be connected to local artistic
elements and palmettes painted in gold against a blue traditions is the rendering of the two horses, each
background, with hints of red and white. Some of shown in profile with a large eye and curved neck, some-
these designs resemble the brick carvings on the Jami what reminiscent of the Hamzanama (Figure 12), men-
masjid in Bagha, south east of the Gaur, Bangladesh, tioned above and Jain manuscripts such as the
dated 930/1523, built by Nusrat Shah (Figure 7). If we Kalpasutra, dated 1439 from Mandu.74
compare a panel with a scroll of leaves with an open- In the scene showing Iskandar receiving Dara’s
petalled flower (Figure 8), it is close to panels on the daughter Roshanak, Iskandar again sits enthroned
brick building above Iskandar’s head (Figure 9). This under a cusped arch, although here the arch is in com-
rectangular brick mosque is covered in finely-carved bination with yet more unusual features (Figure 13).

70
This obscures our understanding of the varied nature of architectural structures at this time. However, as Pika Ghosh points out the rare example of walled
mosque enclosures at Bagha (built by our patron Nusrat Shāh) which includes additional buildings, such as shrines and a hall for ceremonial meals, may
reflect to a certain extent the elite residential complexes from the period. See Ghosh, “Problems of Reconstructing Bengali Architecture”, 100.
71
Asher, “Inventory of key monuments,” 44.
72
Skelton, “The Iskandar Nama of Nusrat Shah,” 140.
73
Alamgir, “Bell and chain decoration.” This motif on terracotta reliefs on mosques can be linked with the bell and chain motif found in temple architecture.
74
‘Indra and the gods in heaven’, Mandu Kalpasutra, National Museum, New Delhi, 49.175, f.10r, see Khandalavala and Chandra, “A Consideration of an Illus-
trated MS. from Mandapadurga (Mandu)”, pl.II, fig.6. Skelton suggests that this type of horse can be found on Bengal terracotta temple relief although this
needs further investigation, see Skelton, “The Iskandar Nama of Nusrat Shah,” 140.
 IRAN 235

Figure 11. Detail, Jami Masjid, Bagha, Bangladesh, A.H. 930/

Figure 10. “Queen Nushaba shares her throne with Iskandar,” A.D.1523.
Sharafnama, © British Library Board, Or.13836, f.37v.

bracket (Figure 13). The shape of this veranda has

Indeed, this is perhaps the most visually splendid and been identified by Perween Hasan as a representation
inventive of all the paintings in this manuscript, begin- of the curved form of a thatched structure, known as a
ning with the kaleidoscope of colours and shapes for the do-chala roof, that is typical of this region.76 Hasan
clouds in the sky. On either side of the arch, flanking the compares the veranda to a simple hut mosque with a
enthroned figure of Iskandar, are some burgundy panels thatched roof, in a Bengali village, although suggests
that also feature the faint gold outline of a type of bell that the veranda shown in the Sharafnama is probably
and chain motif, although it is not clear if these panels made out of wood.77 This type of roof would became
are doors, walls or even textiles.75 Connecting the two popular under the Mughals both inside and outside
red panels, directly above the cusped arch, is a blue Bengal; a much later example is the tomb of Fath
panel with delicate gold leafy scrolls. The outer area of Khan, dating to the seventeenth century (Figure 14)
the building features alternating blue and red medal- that was built beside an earlier building, the Qadam
lions filled with geometric split-palmette designs, Rasul, commissioned by our patron Nusrat Shah in
against a white ground. It is challenging to find any 1530, shortly before he commissioned the
direct connection but again, like the palace from Sharafnama.78
which Iskandar receives Dara’s messenger, these “bor- The fusion of imported forms and designs alongside
ders” of the building may also have derived from local materials and ornament seems to mirror the lit-
designs found in margins in Persian manuscripts. erary culture fostered in the court of Nusrat Shah and
To the left of Iskandar’s palace is an unusual struc- his father. Persian romance literature was patronised
ture that seems to represent a form of veranda, with a alongside Bengali literary works; Nusrat Shah commis-
single curved spine supported by an ornamented sioned local Bengali poets and ordered translations

75
I am grateful to Elaine Wright for encouraging me to have a closer look the architecture in this painting.
76
A do-chala roof is a Bengali roof form with a single curved ridge and two curved side eaves and gabled ends, see Michell, The Islamic heritage of Bengal, 83 and
237.
77
Hasan, “Sultanate Mosques,” 67, fig. 17.
78
Asher, “Inventory of Key Monuments,” 83.
236 E. SHOVELTON

Figure 12. “Hamza catching the horse Khunuk Ishaq in a walled

garden,” © Staatsbibliothek Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Orientab-
teilung, Berlin, Or.fol.4181, f.21r.
Figure 13. “Iskandar receives Dara’s daughter Roshanak,” Shar-
afnama, © British Library Board, Or.13836, f.32r.
from Sanksrit of portions of the epic Mahabharata.79 As
Eaton points out, although Persianised political ritual
survived in the court, sultans articulated their authority depicted in a flat schematic manner, and elements in
through Bengali media; through a sponsorship of mos- the buildings depicted relate to those in the Caurapan-
ques built in local styles, patronage of Bengali and litera- casika group of paintings. The well-known Caurapanca-
ture and local customs.80 Furthermore, in the field of sika manuscript, now in the N.C. Mehta collection, gave
book illustration, it was common across the Persianate its name to the group of manuscripts that date from
world to preserve some traditional aspects of compo- c.1520 to c.1560,81 which also includes a copy of the
sition, subject and iconography but adapt others to Bhagavata Purana, now dispersed in a number of pri-
suit a contemporary world through costume, architec- vate and public collections (Figure 15).82 These Early
tural elements and also style. Rajput style manuscripts have paintings that are now
more dominant on the page, compared with earlier
manuscripts, with text largely relegated to the reverse
Patterns of Interregional Cultural Exchange of the folio. They are characterised by strong, saturated
Although aspects of the architectural representations in red and green, domed architecture that reflects Sulta-
the Sharafnama relate to local architecture, they are nate forms, detailed costume, and naturalistic detail in

79
Haq, Muslim Bengali Literature, 38. None of these original manuscripts survive.
80
Eaton, The Rise of Islam, 66–7. Eaton concludes that the need to weave together Persianized political ritual at the court with the use of local Bengali media to
impose their authority was partly due to the upheavals during the Raja Ganesh period, and also from the Bengali Sultanate’s sustained isolation from North
India.
81
For a list of the manuscripts in the Caurapancasika group see Ahluwalia, Rajput Painting, 46–7; Beach, The Imperial Image, 48 and 195 (note 1 for catalogue 4);
Losty, The Art of the Book in India, 48–9; and Topsfield, Court Painting at Udaipur, 27.
82
See Losty, The Art of the Book in India, 64; Beach, The Imperial Image, 49, cat 4B.
 IRAN 237

Figure 14. Tomb of Fath Khan, l7th century, located in the

Qadam Rasul complex, Gaur, 937/1530 © dbimages / Alamy
Stock Photo.

the animals and birds. The form of chattri or pavilion,

Figure 15. “Akrura Invites Krishna and Balarama to Mathura,”
that is one of the prevalent features of these paintings, Bhagavata Purana, c.1520–40. Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian
closely resemble the pavilion roof in “Iskandar receiving Institution, Washington, D.C.: Purchase – Charles Lang Freer
Dara’s daughter Roshanak” in the Sharafnama in form Endowment, F1966.32.
and colour (Figure 13). Other features in common are
the strong, luminous colours that feature in all these
Another group of related manuscripts is a series of
manuscripts, including a prevalent use of red, green,
illustrated copies of the aforementioned Chandayan. Of
orange and yellow.83 One of the standards held aloft
the five illustrated copies that date to the Sultanate
in the scene of “Iskandar visiting a hermit” features a
period, a copy that dates to the c.1520–50, is often con-
makara head (Figure 1), which can be linked to similar
sidered the most splendid, due to its imaginative compo-
makara-headed eave ends of buildings depicted in cer-
sitions and surface ornament, and the varied colour
tain Caurapancasika paintings, including the Bhagavata
palette (Figure 16).88 One of the key differences between
Purana (Figure 15).84
these paintings and those in the Caurapancasika manu-
The origin of the Caurapancasika group is not
scripts is the orientation of the page: the Chandayan
entirely certain. While the Delhi-Agra region has been
folios are arranged in a vertical codex form, like Iranian
suggested, particularly for the later manuscripts in this
and Sultanate manuscripts, rather than a horizontal for-
group, it seems more likely that the place of origin
mat. The paintings themselves, in this vertical format,
was Mewar, where the continuation of the Early Rajput
are divided into three registers, with an inventive array
style took place.85 Topsfield concludes that the Early
of pavilion roofs and sky in the upper section. The pavi-
Rajput style, exemplified by manuscripts from the Caur-
lion roofs resemble the palace in “Iskandar receiving
apancasika group, date back even earlier in the fifteenth
Dara’s daughter, Roshanak” (Figure 13). The clouds
century and that versions of this style were probably in
depicted in this painting of the Sharafnama are vibrant
circulation in a wide area of Northern and Central India
and energetic, rendered in orange, red and blue against
by the early 16th century.86 As pointed out by Topsfield,
a gold sky. They are not exactly like those depicted in
that the style spread as far east as Bengal is shown by res-
any other manuscript, but the variety, energy and creativ-
onances of the Early Rajput style in our Sharafnama.87
ity resembles certain folios in the Chandayan.

83
Also, the manner in which Iskandar sits on his throne, with bent knees and the soles of his feet together, is more akin to the seated posture of figures in Indic
manuscripts that was also adopted by Sultanate manuscripts, such as the Hamzanama, see note 37 and figure 11.
84
Another example is the Bhairavi Ragini from a Ragamala series, possibly from Mewar from c.1520–40, that is closely related to the Caurapancasika group, see
Guy, “The Arts of Pre-Mughal India,” 34–5, fig. 20.
85
In a thorough discussion of the Tomar Rajputs at Gwalior, particularly under Raja Man Singh (r.1486–1517), and the Sisodias of Chitor under Rana Kumbha
(r.1433–68), Rana Sanga (r.1509–27) and successors, Topsfield argues that both the Gwalior and Chitor courts are likely places of origin and patronage for the
Early Rajput style, see Topsfield, Court Painting at Udaipur, 35–44.
86
Topsfield, Court Painting at Udaipur, 21.
87
Ibid., 27.
88
Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, Mumbai, Acc.57.1/1-68. Other folios are dispersed in private and public collections but the majority of the
folios are in Mumbai. The manuscript is often still known as the Prince of Wales Museum Chandayan due to the previous name of the current location, see
Losty, The Art of the Book in India, 69.
238 E. SHOVELTON

Figure 16. Folio from the “Prince of Wales Museum Chandayan,”

c. 1525–40. India, Sultanate, © The Cleveland Museum of Art,
Gift of D. J. R. Ushikubo, The John Huntington Art and Polytech- Figure 17. “Iskandar’s bier,” Khamsa of Nizami, © Victoria and
nic Trust, and Bequest of James Parmelee by exchange, 1981.55. Albert Museum, I.S.31-198-0.

Folios survive from two copies of the Khamsa of illustrated manuscript, produced some thirty years
Nizami that were produced in the north subcontinent, after the Sharafnama, in c. 1565–69.92 The scene show-
mentioned above, perhaps produced in the Delhi region ing Husayn Shah enthroned in the Taʿrif-i Husayn Shahi
in a commercial workshop, from c.1450–75, but they are (Figure 18)93 correlates in a number of ways with
stylistically apart from our Bengal manuscript in page enthronement scenes in the Sharafnama, such as the
layout, iconography and composition (Figure 17).89 scene of “Iskandar receives Dara’s daughter Roshanak”
The Sharafnama can however be connected with illus- (Figure 13): both show a ruler on a low seat, within a
trated Persian manuscripts of other texts produced else- building made up of panels of strong colour, featuring
where in India, alongside earlier Iranian pictorial a cusped arch. In both paintings attendants are shown
traditions. Firstly, let us consider a manuscript from on either side of the throne, huddled together in identi-
Ahmadnagar and then another from Malwa. Although cal poses in groups of two or three, with an s-shaped
not identical in style, certain visual links can be made curve to their bodies. The figures closest to the ruler
between the Sharafnama and the Taʿrif-i Husayn in both manuscripts hold a fly-whisk (chauri), of a dis-
Shahi, from Ahmadnagar in the Deccan.90 The text is tinctive type that resembles a scarf being wide at one end
a long poem (mathnavī) in praise of the Husayn and narrow at the other end that is grasped by an
Nizam Shah I (r.1553–65), written by the royal poet attendant. This differs from the more usual fly-whisk
Aftabi.91 This is possibly the earliest surviving Deccani made from a yak tail and fastened to a handle that is

89
See note 33 above. The British Library Khamsa has small illustrations, measuring on average 5.1×6.6 cm. There are only a few elements in common with the
Sharafnama, such as the fly whisks and low thrones or stools, that indicate a shared Indic visual language rather than a direct link.
90
Now in the Bharat Itihas Sandhodhak Mandal, Pune.
91
Aftabi, Tarif-i-Husain Shah Badshah Dakhan.
92
It was probably c.1565–9 during the regency of Khanza Humayan, see Barrett, Paintings of the Deccan, 6.
93
Haidar and Sardar, Sultans of the Deccan India, 57, cat no.8.
 IRAN 239

commissioned by his father Sultan Ghiyath al-Din

Khalji, who features in the many of the paintings with
his distinctive bushy, airborne moustache, surrounded
by women.98 In the scene showing Sultan Ghiyath al-
Din about to taste some bhāt (or boiled rice) that is
being prepared (Figure 19), the manner in which the
four attendant figures are shown huddled in a neat
row, each depicted with an s-shaped curve to the
body, is very close to certain groups of figures discussed
above from Sharafnama and the Taʿrif-i Husayn Shahi
and the (Figures 13 and 18). The Niʿmatnama paintings
also feature low stools, with the same manner of depict-
ing drapes hanging from the seat, oblong cushions and
the scarf-like fly whisks. Each of these three sets of
paintings – the Sharafnama, Taʿrif-i Husayn Shahi and
Niʿmatnama – are unique and are in many ways out-
liers.99 However, certain elements point to a shared
visual language across the states of Malwa, Bengal and
Ahmadnagar that shows the overlapping assimilation
of Persianate and Indic pictorial vocabulary.

Transformation and Mobility of Manuscripts

in Sultanate and Mughal Worlds
Figure 18. Taʿrif-i Husayn Shahi, in c. 1565–69, Bharat Itihas
Sandhodhak Mandal, Pune. Another connection between the Niʿmatnama and the
Sharafnama is that they are both written in naskh; albeit
on a much larger scale in the former. Naskh seems to
found in Jain manuscripts, but is similar to the Sultanate have been a prevalent script in the Indian subcontinent
Hamzanama94 and a few instances also in Jain Prakrit from which a new Indo-Persian script developed, the
manuscripts such as a Kalpasutra, dated 1439, made recently-termed “naskh-dīvāīni”; a script that probably
in Mandu.95 grew out of administrative scripts.100 Naskh seems to
A group of manuscripts associated with the court of have been employed for texts of a number of genres,
Mandu, capital of the sultanate state of Malwa, are the including poetic texts that were usually written in nas-
only other extant manuscripts from the long fifteenth ta’līq in Iran by this time. Ahmad, the calligrapher of
century that can be attached to a court with certainty.96 the Sharafnama, has a neat, small hand. Interestingly,
Of these, the most well-known is the Niʿmatnama, a copy of the Shahnama of Firdausi, that was sold in
(Book of Delights) from c.1495–1505.97 Although com- 1994 in Sotheby’s, has text in the exact same distinctive
pleted for Nasir al-Din Shah the manuscript was hand,101 although the paintings have clearly been
94
Losty, The Art of the Book in India, 63, cat no. 33.
95
National Museum, New Delhi, no.49.175, see Khandalavala and Chandra, “A consideration of an illustrated MS”; Khandalavala and Chandra, New Documents of
Indian painting, 17–21, pl. 2 and figs. 9–19; Losty, Art of the book, 60, cat no. 28.
96
Manuscripts produced in Mandu are as follows: A Bustan of Sadi whose illustrations are close to a variant of painting from Timurid Herat; an ‘Aja’ib as-Sana’i‘
by al-Jazari that is closer to Mamluk models; and the Miftah al-Fuzala (glossary), which can be related to Turkman manuscripts, like the Niʿmatnama, but is
closer to its Turkman prototype and does not feature many Indic features. See Losty, Art of the Book, 66–8, cat nos. 40–3. Interestingly, a fifth manuscript that
may also have been made in Mandu, in yet another style, is a copy of Amir Khusra’s Khamsa that Barbara Brend argues can also be associated with the Khalji
rulers of Mandu, see Brend, Perspectives on Persian Painting, 88–9.
97
Titley. The Niʿmatnama Manuscript.
98
Ghiyath al-Din announced in his accession speech that he was going to give up the battlefield and indulge in pleasure and enjoyment at the court. After
spending 34 years supporting his father Mahmud Shah, he had had enough and decided to appoint his son Nasir Shah as his heir, leaving him to run the
state. Ghiyath al-Din filled his state with daughters of Rajas and high officials, and beautiful slave girls. Each girl was taught a profession which included
singing, dancing and even wrestling. He also gathered 500 female Abyssinian slaves to form an army. The paintings include women as his companions,
attendants and cooks. Titley. The Niʿmatnama Manuscript, 2.
99
It may be assumed that many other manuscripts were produced in these courts, and other Sultanate States, but these are the only ones that survive from
these various regions in their particular styles. This may be why they are not widely published and discussed in scholarship, being not part of a distinctive
“school” or group. As previously mentioned, there are three other surviving manuscripts from Mandu, but they are each stylistically diverse.
100
Brac de la Perrière, “Manuscripts in Bihari Calligraphy,” 65.
101
Sotheby’s, Oriental Manuscripts and Miniatures, 84–9, lot.112. I am grateful to Robert Skelton for drawing my attention to this manuscript. The proportion,
spacing and scale of the letters are comparable, and individual letter forms, such as the elongated kāf are also close, suggesting this was the work of the same
240 E. SHOVELTON

Figure 19. “Bhāt being prepared,” Niʿmatnama, © British Library

Board, Ms.149, f.44v.

executed in Akbar’s studio from c.1580–85.102 The

Sotheby’s entry states that the style of the script and Figure 20. “Eighth night: A woman asks her lover to leave her
the illumination suggest that the manuscript dates house, brandishing his sword and feigning rage in order to
from the fifteenth century with paintings added deceive her husband who has just arrived.” Tutinama, © Cleve-
later.103 The format of the page, with a few lines of land Museum of Art, Gift of Mrs. A. Dean Perry, 1962.279, f.58r.
text above and below the painting, usually between
two and six lines, also correlates with our Sharafnama. underpainting of vegetation. Also, on folio 281 the
It has not been possible for the current author to later artists may possibly have followed an original com-
study the manuscript as its current location is unknown position, where the horses stand facing each other, a
but it is important to include here due to the close simi- more common attitude found in earlier Sultanate paint-
larities; a proper analysis will have to wait until the ing rather than Mughal.104 If there were indeed earlier
manuscript reappears. It is possible that the later paint- paintings, presumably they were the same date as the
ings resulted from Mughal artists filling gaps that had script, and would have been Sultanate paintings, close
been left blank. However, it seems likely that at least in style to the Sharafnama. Without a close examination
some of the Mughal paintings have been painted over of the manuscript it is not possible to conclude for cer-
earlier ones. On folio 150 there seems to be an unrelated tain whether the gaps for illustration were left blank and
foot and sword of Rustam near the margin, and there is later filled by Mughal artists, or if the later artists
some flaking of the paint on folio 180 that reveals the painted over Sultanate versions. However, it can be

calligrapher. Furthermore, Skelton points out that one of the unusual features of the calligraphy in the Sharafnama is the use of a sign resembling a minute ‘v’
above the letter sīn. See Skelton, “The Iskandar Nama of Nusrat Shah,” 137. It is difficult to see small details in the reproductions in the Sotheby’s catalogue,
but it seems that the same sign is used in the Shahnama.
102
Many of the artists named in this Shahnama worked on other illustrated manuscripts from the 1580s.
103
Sotheby’s, Oriental Manuscripts and Miniatures, 85.
104
Ibid., 87. This information has been gleaned from the Sotheby’s catalogue and I have not been able to track the whereabouts of this manuscript to examine it
myself to be sure if this is definitely overpainting.
 IRAN 241

Figure 21. “Eighth night: The prince’s ordeal continues, he is

ordered away to be executed for the fifth time,” Tutinama, ©
Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mrs. A. Dean Perry, 1962.279,
Figure 22. “Iskandar visits the tomb of Kay Khusraw”, Sharaf-
f.66r.
nama, © British Library Board, Or.13836, f.43v.

strongly argued that the original manuscript was written

by the same calligrapher as the Sharafnama and was compositions at the beginning of the manuscript are
likely to have been commissioned by the same patron, completely overpainted by Mughal artists. Those in
Nusrat Shah in c.1530–5. the central section show strong affiliation with the ear-
During Akbar’s reign the imperial library grew expo- lier Chandayan style, and are from the original manu-
nentially. Besides manuscripts produced at the court, script with some repainting, mostly in the faces,
and others received as gifts, many other manuscripts clothing and some other details. For example, the
would have been acquired as booty in regions such as heavy door and the figures on the right of folio 58r
Bengal or other Sultanate states that were conquered have been repainted in an otherwise Sultanate painting
by Akbar. The palimpsest nature of at least one Mughal (Figure 20). Lastly, towards the end of the manuscript,
manuscript is borne out in a copy of the Tutinama of new Mughal paintings appear on previously unillu-
c.1565–70,105 which John Seyller demonstrates also strated folios.107
began as a Sultanate manuscript.106 Seyller concluded If we compare certain folios in the Tutinama with the
that artists in the Mughal atelier refurbished and com- copy of Chandayan that dates to the c.1520–50, men-
pleted a partially-illustrated Chandayan-style manu- tioned above, the similarities can be clearly seen.108
script of some decades earlier. Seyller discovered that Those elements in the Tutinama that were part of the
over half the manuscript has been overpainted. The original manuscript all correlate with the Chandayan:

105
Cleveland Museum of Art, 1962.279, see Chandra, The T ūt ī-Nāma of the Cleveland Museum of Art.
106
Seyller, “Overpainting in the Cleveland T ūt īnāma”.
107
Ibid., 284.
108
See note 88; Losty, The Art of the Book in India, 69.
242 E. SHOVELTON

the striped pavilions, the division of space and the Mughal ruler Akbar – often lauded as the first Muslim
plethora of surface ornament, often forms of vegetal ruler to show such an interest in Sanskrit texts and
scroll or repeated geometric patterns (Figures 16 and Hindu rituals – the broad literary interests of Nusrat
20). The Sharafnama has certain elements in common Shah and his forebears in Bengal were ahead of their
with the Tutinama, again, more specifically, those time.111
elements that were from the original earlier paintings, This analysis of the text and image of Nusrat
such as the pavilion roofs, and the naskh script. Shah’s Sharafnama offers an insight into the encoun-
The colours employed for skies in certain folios of the ter between Persianate literary and artistic traditions
Tutinama are also very close to the Sharafnama and local cultural practises in early sixteenth century
(Figures 21 and 22).109 Bengal. As a corollary to these central issues, it
Seyller comments that his study of the Tutinama invites a discussion on the widespread interest in
paves the way for a re-examination of a central issue the legend of Iskandar, and the way these stories
in Indian painting, which is the genesis of the imperial were popular, not only as literary entertainment
Mughal style.110 However, the Tutinama, and the Shah- and an essential component of elite courtly life, but
nama from Bengal, can be just as revealing when we also as a useful narrative for rulers navigating a com-
have, in our mind’s eye, lifted those layers of Mughal plex multi-cultural environment. This manuscript
paint and viewed the manuscript as a key exemplar of also provides a lens through which to view trans-cul-
the art of the book under the Indian Sultanates. tural interactions between the Indian sultanates. The
Sharafnama reveals a cultural heritage in Bengal
that is both local and international. It is a document
Conclusion that charts a high-point in the complex cross-cultural
interactions that were in dialogue long before the
A close look at the Sharafnama reveals a style of paint-
Mughals arrived, and can enhance our understanding
ing that can be connected to multiple traditions: the
of the development of Indo-Persian manuscripts in
contemporary South Asian world, the local environ-
the Indian Sultanates.
ment of Bengal, and also Persian paintings traditions.
The Persian traditions were probably mediated through
an earlier Bengali Sultanate style of painting, when Ira- Acknowledgements
nian and earlier Sultanate elements were assimilated and
I am grateful to Robert Skelton for many stimulating dis-
adapted. The Sharafnama paintings are not so much cussions about Sultanate manuscripts over the years. I wish
experimental but rather show a confident and creative to thank Barbara Brend and Elaine Wright for their per-
integration of visual idioms that reflect a multi-cultural ceptive comments on an earlier draft of this article, and
environment. Therefore, as much as can be concluded the anonymous reviewer for thoughtful feedback. I would
from this single manuscript, it can be argued that the also like to thank Ursula Sims-Williams for helping me
to view the manuscript at the British Library, and for sup-
genesis of the style of illustration employed in this Shar- porting me in my research. I am grateful to Mahmood
afnama lay in the earlier days of the Bengal sultanate. Alam and Andrew Peacock for inviting me to present
There was also a renewed vigour and engagement in this paper at a conference in Hyderabad, and to Andrew
local forms under Nusrat Shah, exemplified in the visual for his ongoing encouragement.
arts by both architectural commissions and this
manuscript.
Disclosure Statement
In the sponsorship of architecture, literature and
other aspects of material culture, the Sultans and elite No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
in Bengal seemed to favour work of a distinctively
local style. The Sharafnama discussed here is a Persian Bibliography
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The smaller domes are later Mughal additions and the vegetation along the base, see Seyller, “Overpainting in the Cleveland T ūt īnāma,” 311.
110
Seyller, “Overpainting in the Cleveland T ūt īnāma,” 308.
111
Tolerance and open-minded attitudes were not just found in Sultanate courts but also in those of Hindu rulers. The Tomar ruler Raja Man Singh of Gwalior
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