File:Shahjahanalbum.jpg

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English: A leaf from the "Late Shah Jahan" Album, probably looted by Nadir Shah in 1739

Source: http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/search/LotDetail.asp?intObjectID=2729820&SE=CMWCAT02+44450+%2D1485617171+&QR=M+1+6+Aqc0000900+43972++Aqc0000900+&entry=islamic&RQ=False&AN=7 (downloaded Sept. 2001)

"Mughal School circa 1650 and Safavid School, circa 1530. A leaf from the "Late Shah Jahan" Album. Gouache heightened with gold on paper, recto with the bearded figure of 'Ala al-Mulk Tuni holding an inventory list in his hand, the margins with elaborately drawn portaits of staff recording the Imperial porcelain, jewels and bolts of cloth, verso with four lines of black nasta'liq within gold clouds highlighted with polychrome flowers, the margins with finely drawn floral decoration outlined with gold with tiny figures of birds, slight water staining, generally good condition. Folio 15 1/8 x 10¼ in. (38.4 x 26.4 cm.); miniature 7¾ x 4½in. (19.7 x 11.5 cm.); calligraphy 6 7/8 x 3¾ in. (17.5 x 9.6 cm.).

Lot Notes: This portrait is from the so-called Late Shah Jahan Album which was dispersed in Paris about 1909. Traditionally it is thought to have been part of the loot from Delhi taken in 1739 by Nader Shah. In the late 19th century it was taken to Russia by a brother of Nasr al-Din Shah, the Qajar ruler of Iran and sold to a dealer who brought it to Paris. This leaf is typical of the album which concentrated on portraits of the elderly emperor and his nobles. The borders often show, as here, men associated with the central personage.

'Ala al-Mulk Tuni was a Persian from the city of Tun in the province of Kuhistan. He came to India in 1633-34 and died in 1663 at the age of nearly seventy. In 1641 he entered the service of Shah Jahan in the ministry of finance, later becoming Khan-i-Saman, a title encompassing Lord High Steward and Lord Chamberlain, and controlled the whole expediture of the royal household. In 1649 he was given the title of Fazil Khan and continued to serve under Aurangzeb. A man of blameless character and sound judgement, he was known for his proficiency in astronomy, mathematics and physical science. Under his directions a large part of the irrigation canal of the city of Lahore was remade. (Hollis H.: "Portrait of a nobleman", in Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 33, no. 7, 1946, pp. 180-81, 185).

Other portraits of 'Ala al-Mulk Tuni are known; by Chitarman (Martin, F. R.: The Miniature Paintings and Painters of Persia, India and Turkey, London, 1912, pl.187A; Beach, M. C.: The Grand Mogul. Imperial Painting in India, 1600-1660, Williamstown, Massachusetts, 1978, p.112) and by Jalal Quli (Leach, L.: Mughal and Other Indian Paintings from the Chester Beatty Library, London, 1995, p. 431, no.3.47). He also appears in durbar images from the Padshanama (Beach, M. C. and Koch, E.: King of the World. The Padshahnama, an Imperial Mughal Manuscript from the Royal Library, Windsor Castle, London, 1997, pl.19, centre right and pl.32, centre right with a scroll).

The calligraphy on the reverse has been attributed to Mir 'Ali (Ehnbom D. J., Indian Miniatures. The Ehrenfeld Collection, New York, 1985). Mir 'Ali Haravi (d.1556) is one of the most influential of all the practitioners in this highly respected art. With Sultan 'Ali Mashhadi he is credited with having invented nasta'liq script (Schimmel, Annemarie: Calligraphy and Islamic Culture, New York and London, 1984, p.36). The works of leading Persian calligraphers were particularly prized at the Mughal court."
Date circa 1650
date QS:P,+1650-00-00T00:00:00Z/9,P1480,Q5727902
Source http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00routesdata/1600_1699/shahjahan/shahjahanalbum/shahjahanalbum.html
Author Calligraphy:
Mir Ali Heravi  (1476–1544)  wikidata:Q5959839
 
Alternative names
میر علی سادات حسینی هروی، میرجان، کاتب سلطانی
Description Persian calligrapher
Date of birth/death 1476 Edit this at Wikidata 1544 AD (951 AH)
Location of birth/death Herat Bukhara
Work location
Authority file
creator QS:P170,Q5959839

Licensing

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Public domain
This work is in the public domain in India because its term of copyright has expired.

The Indian Copyright Act applies in India to works first published in India. According to the Indian Copyright Act, 1957, as amended up to Act No. 27 of 2012 (Chapter V, Section 25):

  • Anonymous works, photographs, cinematographic works, sound recordings, government works, and works of corporate authorship or of international organizations enter the public domain 60 years after the date on which they were first published, counted from the beginning of the following calendar year (i.e. as of 2024, works published prior to 1 January 1964 are considered public domain).
  • Posthumous works (other than those above) enter the public domain after 60 years from publication date, counted from the beginning of the following calendar year.
  • Any kind of work other than the above enters the public domain 60 years after the author's death (or in the case of a multi-author work, the death of the last surviving author), counted from the beginning of the following calendar year.
  • Text of laws, judicial opinions, and other government reports are free from copyright.
The Indian Copyright Act, 1957 is not retroactive, so any work in which copyright did not subsist when it commenced did not have its copyright restored, and is in the public domain per the Copyright Act 1911.

You must also include a United States public domain tag to indicate why this work is in the public domain in the United States.

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