Beach, Milo Cleveland;
Mughal and Rajput painting, New Cambridge history of India I.3
Cambridge University Press, 1992, 252 pages
ISBN 0521400279, 9780521400275
topics: | history | india | mughal | art | rajput | medieval
Akbar was illiterate -- not an unusual situation for Muslim rulers with attendant scribes, however, and he employed readers to keep himself informed and entertained: Experienced people bring them daily and read them before His Majesty, who hears every book from the beginning to the end. At whatever page the readers daily stop, His Majesty makes with his own pen a sign, according to the number of the pages; and rewards the readers with presents of cash, either in gold or silver, according to the number of pages read out by them. Among books of renown, there are few that are not read in His Majesty's assembly hall. Abu'l Fazl Allami, A'in-i-Akbari, translated H. Blochmann, Calcutta, 1938-1939, vol. I, p. 110 More specifically, after an exciting elephant hunt in 1564, we read: When the world-warming sun had sate on the throne of the horizons, H.M. the Shahinshah [Akbar] with the desired prey in his net and the cup of success at his lip sate on that auspicious throne and graciously ordered the courtiers to be seated. Then for the sake of delight and pleasure, he listened for some time to Darbar Khan's recital of the story of Amir Hamza. [Abu'l Fazl, Akbar Nama, vol. 11, pp. 343-344] The Hamzanama is an adventure story based partly on fact, but incorporating local legends and popular tales. It centers on the purported adventures of Amir Hamza, an uncle of the Prophet Muhammad who sought to convert the world to Islam. The narrative is a series of action-packed tales about love affairs, murders, kidnappings, and battles, and its cast of characters includes giant magicians, demons, and dragons - as well as heroic warriors and beautiful maidens. Babur considered the story "one long farfetched lie, opposed to sense and nature," [Babur-rtama, p. 280] 179 illustrations (B&W); 16 colour plates