DavidsSamlingGennem24År

15/1980 Miniature from Akbar-nameh India, Mogul court school about 1590 Gouache and gold on paper Miniature: H:29.5, W:19; Album: H:43.5, W:29.5 In 1526 Babar, a descendant of Ghengis Khan and Tamerlane, conquered Delhi and thereby founded the Mogul dynasty that was to subjugate and rule over In­ dia for centuries. Akbar, Babar’s grandson, grew up during his father’s temporary exile and for this reason could neither read nor write. It thus fell to the learned Abu’l Fazl to describe this famous Mogul’s exploits in two major works, A k b a r - n a m e h and A ’in - i A k b a r i, which were completed before the emperor died in 1605. A ’in - i A k b a ri contains descriptions of the various forms of hunting and the emperor’s attitudes to them. In his later years Akbar was apparently disinterested in hunting, and even as a young man he had restricted himself to the noblerforms, experiencing distastefor the popular b a ttu e s . For Akbar, writes Abu’l Fazl, hunt­ ing was just as much an opportunity to explore nature and inspect the countryside unannounced. The miniature must almost be regarded as a compila­ tion of various hunting forms. Apart from the leopards the emperor is about to kill can be seen also foxes, lynxes, hares, gazelles and partridges. To hunt these, dogs, falcons, a cheetah and an elephant (used mostly for tiger-hunting) have been brought along. Behind Akbar is a courtier with an extra matchlock, one with his sword in a red bag, one with his bow and quiver, and a fan-bearer, while the rest are no doubt an expression of the painter’s narrative delight and meant to emphasize that what we have here is a synthesis - hunting in all its multiplicity.

1 5 /1 9 8 0 M in ia tu r e fra A k b a r - n a m e h In d ie n , m o g h u l h o fs k o le o m k r in g 1590 G o u a c h e o g g u ld p å p a p ir M in ia tu re : H :2 9 ,5 , B :1 9 ; A lb u m : H :4 3 ,5 , B :2 9 ,5 I 1526 e r o b re d e B a b u r , e n æ tlin g a f D je n g is K h a n o g T im u r , D e lh i o g g r u n d la g d e h e r m e d m o g h u l- d y n a s tie t, s o m sk u lle u n d e r læ g g e sig o g re g e re o v e r In d ie n i å r h u n d re d e r . A k b a r, B a b u r s s ø n n e ­ s ø n , v a r o p v o k s e t u n d e r sin fa rs m id le r tid ig e la n d ­ f ly g tig h e d o g k u n n e a f s a m m e g r u n d h v e r k e n læ se e lle r sk riv e . D e t tilk o m d e r fo r d e n læ rd e A b u ’l F azl a t b e s k riv e d e n n e n a v n k u n d ig e s to r m o g h u ls b e d r if te r i v æ r k e rn e A k b a r - n a m e h o g A ’in -i A k - b a ri, h v ilk e t s k e te in d e n k e js e re n d ø d e i 1605. I A ’in - i A k b a r i sk ild re s d e fo rs k e llig e ja g t t y p e r o g k e js e re n s f o r h o ld d e rtil. S o m æ ld re sk u lle A k ­ b a r ik k e h a v e b r u d t sig o m j a g t , o g a lle re d e s o m u n g h o ld t h a n sig til m e re æ d le f o r m e r , m e n s d e y n d e d e k la p ja g te r v a r h a m im o d . F o r A k b a r , s k ri­ v e r A b u ’l F azl, v a r j a g t lig e så m e g e t e n le jlig h e d til a t u d f o r s k e n a tu r e n o g til u a n m e ld t a t in s p ic e re la n d e t. M in ia tu r e n m å n æ r m e s t b e tra g te s s o m e n k o m ­ p ila tio n a f fo rs k e llig e j a g tf o r m e r . U d o v e r d e le o ­ p a r d e r , s o m k e js e re n e r v e d a t fæ ld e, ses o g så ræ ­ v e , lo sse r, h a re r, g a z e lle r o g a g e rh ø n s . T il a t ja g e d isse e r m e d b r a g t h u n d e , fa lk e , e n ja g tle o p a r d - c h e e ta h - o g e n e le fa n t, s o m m e s t b r u g te s til tig e r ­ j a g t. B a g A k b a r ses e n h o f m a n d m e d e n e k s tra lu n te b ø s s e , e e n m e d h a n s s v æ rd i e n r ø d p o s e , e e n m e d h a n s b u e o g p ile k o g g e r o g e n v ifte b æ re r, m e n s re s te n v e l e r e t u d t r y k fo r m a le re n s f o r tæ l­ le g læ d e o g m e d fo r a t u n d e r s tr e g e , a t d e r e r tale o m e n s y n te s e - j a g t i al d e n s m a n g fo ld ig h e d .

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