Manuscripts
tāriḵ-e ʿālām-ārā-ye šāh esmāʿil
Cf. manuscript L, folio 232, for another version of this painting, and for a summary of the event depicted. For a third variant see also manuscript N, no.7.
The date is the year 919/1513; the place is somewhere in Khorasan, and the principal combatants are Shah Esmāʿil and the Uzbeg Abuʾl Ḵeyr Ḵān, son of Qāsem Ḵān (see folio 273v).
Across the center of the painting, moving from right to left, Shah Esmāʿil is pursuing his adversary. As in previous paintings, the shah is dressed in a gold trimmed white knee-length coat, with a red and white flat top qezelbāš tāj on his head, and bow and quiver case hanging from his belt. His usually light gray horse is here shown with a bluish cast, but true to form its lower quarters are stained brownish-red with blood or mud. Esmāʿil leans slightly forward in the saddle, and with his right arm fully extended, thrusts a sword to cut his adversary in two vertically from head to waist. Abuʾl Ḵeyr Ḵān, dressed in purple astride a brown horse, and holding a bow in his left hand, has attempted to defend himself by holding a shield over his head. But it has been of no avail - the awesome power of the shah’s blow has split the shield as well as his body, and blood gushes forth.
Behind the shah, on the far right, is a ḡāzi shooting arrows at some unseen assailant, while in the lower foreground another Safavid, dressed in vermillion and riding a black horse, swings a heavy mace in pursuit of three Uzbegs. The three, dressed in vermillion, purple, and olive respectively, and all wearing white turbans, seem more intent on fleeing and defending themselves than fighting. The last in the group raises a shield to ward off the blow of a mace swung by a ḡāzi.
Customary with many of the other paintings, the event is depicted on a hillside simply rendered in a light mauve, which rises to a craggy rock formation near the top of the picture. Beyond the crest are the multi-colored tents of the Uzbeg encampment populated by three figures whose upper torsos only are visible. One gestures frustration, but the other two, on horseback, seem oblivious to the events occurring below.
Although there are considerable differences between this painting and the two other variants cited above, that they are mutually influenced is certain. Yet they are not slavish imitations of one another where one could establish an original and derivatives. This version seems to be the most refined and finished in the group, but not necessarily the most successful in all aspects. There are several elements of awkwardness - although Esmāʿil is behind Abuʾl Ḵeyr Ḵān, his sword penetrates him from the front; the turban of the Uzbeg in the lower left is partially obscured by Abuʾl Ḵeyr Ḵān’s horse which is further back in the pictorial space - which do not occur in the British Library variant that appears looser and more accomplished in draftsmanship.
Painting: 18.0 x 13.0 cm. One line of text above and below the painting. Frame encloses painting and text, except for the tops of the Uzbeg tents that protrude beyond the frame into the upper margin. A marginal inscription in red, presumably of later date, describes the event depicted. Inscriptions in black appear on two of the figures, identifying them as Abuʾl Ḵeyr Ḵān and Shah Esmāʿil, and also on Esmāʿil’s horse calling it the “mule of Manṣur”. The meaning of this phrase is not clear, but it also appears on a horse in the painting on folio 217. Other than normal wear, there are no signs of damage or retouching.
Painting references:
Mahboubian_1972, #923 folio 280 (not ill.).
Text X-references:
Muntaẓer-Ṣāḥeb_1970, p.493.
Robert Eng
Last Updated: December 15, 2010
Originally published: April 4, 2002