Rostam Pulls the Ḵāqān of China Off His Elephant

Rostam, in his traditional garb of tiger-skin coat and leopard-skin cuirass, is the dominant figure in the right foreground. Charging from the right on his horse Raḵš, he leans forward in the saddle to pull taut the lasso with which he has ensnared the Ḵāqān. The Ḵāqān is sliding headlong off his elephant, which under the force of Rostam’s power has likewise succumbed and has been brought to its knees. The bearded, frowning Ḵāqān wears a pointed steel helmet, leg guards, and a quiver case, but also a robe of Chinese flavor decorated with floral rosettes. Nine soldiers with pointed steel helmets are observers to the event; they are dispersed in small groups - two each in the lower right, lower left, and top center, and a group of three in the upper left. In all cases only their heads and shoulders are visible, the remainder of their bodies being either cropped by the frame, or hidden by the rock formation from behind which they peer. Two of these individuals (upper left and lower right) wear the same type of dress as the Ḵāqān, and are evidently Chinese. In the upper right are two turbaned trumpeters, whose upper torsos are visible as they appear from behind the rocks. The backdrop in the lower portion of the painting is innocuous so as not to conflict with the main action taking place. The upper half of the composition, however, is an exuberant depiction of coral-like rock formations with many small green shrubs.

Painting with text and frame: 29.0 x 14.5 cm. Page: 35.5 x 21.4 cm. Ink, opaque watercolor and gold on paper. Fourteen lines of text written on a diagonal and two lines of four-column text written horizontally are above the painting. Included is a chapter heading: "Rostam and the Ḵāqān of China". Below the painting is one line of four-column text written horizontally, and fourteen lines written on a diagonal. Gilt interlinear decoration permeates the text. Frame encloses painting and text, except for the hindquarters of Raḵš and two horns that protrude into the right margin. No significant damage; no sign of retouching. The painting is signed in the lower margin in miniscule characters: raqam-e kamina moʿin-e moṣavver. The other side of this folio contains text from Rostam battling Kamus.

Location: Harvard Art Museums, Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Francis H. Burr Memorial Fund, 1941.293. Formerly in the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard.

Painting references:
Schroeder, Fogg_1941, p.147, #XXVII (ill.). Grube, MMP_1962, #113 (ill.).
Stchoukine, SA_1964, p.65.
Cambridge Shahnameh Project
Text references: Warner, III, p.230; Mohl, III, pp.159-60; Levy, p.138.

Robert Eng
Last Updated: March 29, 2011. Originally published: March 29, 2011