Journey of a Royal Painter

ln 336 BC, Alexander the great ascended the Throne of Macedonia after the demise of his father Philipe. The inheritance has followed by insatiable angst against the Persians and he vowed to finish them in their own land. He kept his promise in the battle of lssus. He won the battle but lost the fight to Abdul Rahman Zami, the most celebrated persian poet of fifteenth century. He immortalized Alexander‘s tale in Persian manuscript Khirodnama-i-Sikandari. The manuscript had its journey from generation generation when it passed on to the Mughal emperors Humayun, Akbar, Jahangir and Shahjahan and eventually reached to the Indian Museum.

How Indian Museum came into the possession of this manuscript, is also a story of great interest. The Museum authority received a registered letter from Mr. Debabrata Ghosh of Calcutta on 24th July 1976.The letter suggests that Mr. Ghosh is in possession of this manuscript. It was handed over to his family by his grandfather Haruchandra Ghosh who happened to be a great scholar of Persian language. Further research finds a statue of Haruchandra Ghost at the Old house of Small Causes Court on Bankshal Street. He was the ‘Dewan‘ of Naldanga. The manuscript was finally acquired by the Curator of Islamic Antiquities on 26‘” August, 1976. Mr. Ghosh has passed the legacy for the generation to come. Khirodnama-i~Siakandari (31cmx200m) is important for its historical value.

First two folios of this manuscript bear illustration of the Durbar hall. It is dated 963 Hijri or 1555 CE. Renowned Calligrapher and artist Mir Ali penned Khirodnama-l-Sikandari. Another copy of Usufwa Zuleikha was selected by Jahangir for his private library. According to ’ Tuzuk-l-Jahangiri, the official biography of Jahangir, Jahangir paid a thousand gold coins to acquire a copy of the manuscript for his library. Abul Fazal mentioned about Mir Ali in Ain-I-Akbari. it is described at the end of the manuscript Mir Ali copied this manuscript in 945 Hijri or 1538 CE at Bukhara.

If the Persian style painting delights us in hrst two folios, the illumination in the next page astonishes us. Two Badshahi stamps and handwriting of Jahangir and Shahjahan are depicted on it. Badshah Jahangir wrote: “Allahho-Akbar! The book is enlisted in the library of the person who is enthroned in the name of God in his coronation year. The writing in the first and third page of the manuscript was by Nuruddin Jahangir, son of badshah Akbar.” Next, Shahjahan wrote: in the name of a compassionate and kind God. The manuscript bears the evidence of beautiful writing of Mollah Mir Ali, and is enlisted in the library on 25‘“ day of the Bahman month of Akbari year in l307 Hijri when l ascended the throne. The writing is of Shihabuddin Muhammad Badshah, who is son of Jahangir and Jahangir is son of Akbar badshah Gazi." Beautiful decorations and illustrations found in every page of this Farsi nuscript. The manuscript tantalizes with its bright usage golden, peacock blue, and bright red colour. The elaborate capturing of the life of Sikandar now has been carefully kept for its further museum preservation.

Source: https://indianmuseumkolkata.org/