Durbar at Delhi of Akbar II, inscribed with the names of Mughal princes, courtiers...

Durbar at Delhi of Akbar II (1759-1837, ruled 1806-37). The Emperor is shown seated on his throne in the Diwan-i Khas of the Palace at Delhi. Near him stand the Princes of the Blood Royal; on his left Mirza Jahangir Bahadur, Mirza Babar Sahib, Mirza Hussain Bahadur and Mirza KaiQubad, on his right Mirza Salim Bahadur and Mirza Abu Zafar. Nearby is the British Resident at Delhi, Sir David Ochterlony ('Kharnal Akhtarluni Sahib') and the nobles of the court stand around on both sides of the throne. By a Delhi artist, c.1820. Inscribed on border in Persian: 'Sultan ibn al-sultan sahib al-maghazi wa-ni'mat i haqiqi khudawand i majazi Abu'l-Nasr Mu'in al-Din Muhammad Akbar Shah padshah i ghazi' (The Sultan, son of the Sultan, Lord of warlike qualities and spiritual blessing, sovereign of the temporal world, Abu'l Nasr Mu'in al-Din Muhammad Akbar shah, emperor, conqueror of infidels). Many figures are inscribed with their names e.g. on left: Shiv Lal, Bakhshi Mahmud Khan (the treasurer of the palace), Nawab Mughal Beg, Ghulam Majid al-din, Shadi Ram, Qalandar Beg, Yaqub 'Ali Khan, Tafazzul Husain Khan, Karamat 'Ali (a distinguished scholar and mathematician), Karamat, Nawab Muhammad Mir Khan, Mustaufi Allah Yar Khan (examiner of accounts), Khwaja Farid Khan; on right: Ghulam Sarwar Khan, Mir Nisar 'Ali (tutor to the emperor's children), Raja Jai Singh Rai, Najaf 'Ali Beg, Nawazish 'Ali Khan (a scholar), Rukn al-Daula, Raja Kedarnath, Mir Jahd Khan, Nawab Nazir Mansur 'Ali Khan, Iqbal 'Ali Khan, Hisam al-din Junaid Khan; in centre front: Nabi Bakhsh Khan. The names of the princes are also inscribed. Water-colour; 19 by 16 ins. Purchased March 1908. Foster catalogue, no.104. Note: Sir William Foster (see W. Foster, 'A Descriptive catalogue of the paintings, statues, etc. in the India Office' (London, 1924), no.104) gives the name of the artist as Shaikh 'Alam, but there appears to be no inscription to confirm this. Sir David Ochterlony was Resident at Delhi from 1803 to 1806 and again from 1818 to 1822. His appearance in this painting would suggest that it was made during his second period of office. For other paintings of this type, see 'Journal of Indian Art,' xii, no.107, July 1909, 185 and plate 155.

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