AKM272.f147r, The ruler of Khwarazm telling about his dream to Sultan Sanjar, Folio from a manuscript of Nigaristan, f.147r
© The Aga Khan Museum
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The ruler of Khwarazm telling about his dream to Sultan Sanjar, Folio from a manuscript of Nigaristan
- Accession Number:AKM272.f147r
- Creator:Author: Ahmad b. Muhammad Ghaffari, Persian, died 1567 Scribe: Ahmad al-Shirazi
- Place:Iran, Shiraz (probably)
- Dimensions:38.7 cm × 25 cm × 6.4 cm
- Date:1573-74 CE/980 AH/AH 980
- Materials and Technique: Ink, opaque watercolour, and gold on paper
The miniature painting "The ruler of Khwarazm telling about his dream to Sultan Sanjar" is from an intact manuscript of Kitab-i Nigaristan, a collection of anecdotes and historical incidents written in prose by the historian and scholar Ahmad Muhammad Ghaffari (1504–1567/68) of Kashan in 1551–2. This illustrated manuscript, dated 1573, was probably produced in a Shiraz workshop.
See AKM272 for more information about the manuscript and links to the other illustrations.
Further Reading
In an outdoor setting a crowned rider is surrounded by a group of other riders. The arrangement of the figures fills a large area of the image. The high horizon and the landscape is similar to other images of this manuscript. The background of the illustration is, similar to other outdoor scenes in the Nigaristan, painted in a soft purple colour. The colour red accents the clothes of the riders, who symmetrically surround the king.
The anecdote is about an attempted attack on Sultan Sanjar, a Seljuk sultan who ruled from 1118 to 1157. This attempt is only thwarted because a loyal vassal of the Sultan, the King of Khwarazm, dreams about the conspirators' actions and then rushes to Sultan Sanjar to make him aware of the upcoming attack.
This illustration depicts the meeting of the two rulers, where the King of Khwarazm describes his dream. The astonishment of the figures present can be seen from the fact that some of them—perhaps the conspirators themselves—put their finger to their lips. This is a common gesture of showing surprise in a miniature painting. The illustration also uses the typical composition of a Persian hunting scene, where hunters are painted on a landscape often surrounded by rocks, and sometimes part of the landscape is separated from the rest by a pond or a stream. Here, as in classical hunting scenes, some trees are scattered across the landscape.
- Elika Palenzona-Djalili
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