Location: Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, London, MSS462.
Mount: Blue mount with gold decoration 35.8 x 23.4 cm; orange collar.
Written surface: 23.3.1 x 15.2 cm;
Painting: 14.5-14.7 x 15.2 cm.
Text references: J.K., p.580 lines 4 to 11.
Morton, Pembroke_1990, p.200

Date of this event: ʿeid-e fetr 927/ autumn 1521.
Šayḵšāh, son of Sultan Farāj, and ruler of Širvān, came to the Safavid court and made substantial gifts to the shah with the expressed wish to be considered one of Esmāʿil's loyal servents. The gifts included his daughter, who had been reared in the royal house of Širvān, presented to the shah for inclusion in Shah Esmāʿil's harem. In return for these services Šayḵšāh was again granted the position of ruler of Širvān.

Shah Esmāʿil sits, in a white ceremonial robe, on an elevated throne in the upper right. An attendant stands behind him on the far right, and in the right foreground four courtiers, three seated and the fourth standing, leaning on a walking stick, his lower extremities cropped by the frame at the bottom. Šayḵšāh, dressed in a long yellow robe with a fur collar, and his entourage are on the left side of the composition. The entourage consists of two horses laden with gifts, two grooms, and two attendants. A tiled pavillion serves as a backdrop for the shah, and off to the left of the composition in the background is a garden with some trees. Three lines of calligraphy above and three lines below the painting.

Inscription (center, beneath the foot of the throne): be tāriḵ-e panjom-e šahr-e šavvāl bā eqbāl sana 990 be etmām rasid. amal-e faqir[?] moʿin moṣavvir. According to Morton this date which reads 5 Šavvāl 990 should be read 5 Šavvāl 1099 / 4 August 1688.
Inscription (on left): šayḵšāh
Inscription (on top): soltān-e farāj ebn-e šeyḵ darga ḵāqān

Painting references:
Ackerman_1940, p.209, Gallery VII, Case 103, no. B.
Louisiana Revy, 1987, p.114.
Christies London, 28 October 1983, Lot 124 (ill.)
Sims, BrMus_1997, pp.1, 6, 8.
Sims, Safavid_2002, pp.54-55

Photo: ©Nour Foundation. Courtesy of the Khalili Family Trust

Robert Eng
Last Updated: September 18, 2012 | Originally published: September 18, 2012