Two troops on the move, Folio from a manuscript of Nigaristan

• Accession Number:AKM272.f255r
• 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 "Two troops on the move" 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 

 
The scene depicts a fight between a crowned figure and a mounted person in armour in a steppe landscape. The composition of the image consists of figures set diagonally across three levels.  
 
According to the text, the illustration depicts an attack on Shah Shuja while he was riding through the countryside. Shuja was the ruler of Muzzafarid Dynasty in South of Iran from 1358 to 1384. 
 
This illustration takes the composition of a typical battle scene, as understood within the miniature painting tradition developed during the Timurid period (1370–1507). In a battle scene, the troops face each other from opposite sides of the image and are identified by their pennants. The main battle takes place at the middle of the image.  
 
- Elika Palenzona-Djalili 

 
References 
Sims, Eleanor. Peerless Images: Persian Painting and Its Sources. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2002. ISBN: 9780300090383