Page 117 - ART OF THE ISLAMIC AND INDIAN WORLDS Carpets, Ceramics Objects, Christie's London Oct..27, 2022

96
TIMUR'S COMMANDER PULAD KILLS TURKHAN ERLAT
SIGNED MADHAV, MUGHAL INDIA, CIRCA 1595-1600
An illustration from the Zafarnama of Sharaf al-Din Yazdi, gouache heightened with gold
on dark brown paper, soldiers watch as Pulad decapitates Turkan Erlat, whose headless
body lies on the ground beside his slain horse, 3ll. of neat black and red nasta'liq above and
2ll. of similar nasta'liq below, inside gold and polychrome rulings, lower margin with artist's
signature and illustration number 20 in red nasta'liq and folio number 101 to left, reverse with
10ll. of black and red nasta'liq written horizontally and diagonally, with folio number 101 in
upper margin.
Painting 4w x 3¬ in. (12.4 x 9.3 cm.); folio 11 x 7w in. (27.8 x 20 cm)
£60,000-80,000 US$69,000-91,000
€69,000-91,000

PROVENANCE:
Private collection, England by the 1940s
This folio is taken from the dispersed royal Zafarnama prepared for Emperor Akbar
(r.1556-1605) and illustrated by some of the luminaries of the Mughal atelier. The text
itself was an elaborately-written history of the reign of Timur (r.1370-1405), written
by Sharaf al-Din Yazdi in Shiraz in AH 828/1424-5 AD, and commissioned by Timur's
grandson Ibrahim Sultan. The Mughals too claimed descent from Timur, and in their
art and architecture frequently harked back to their Central Asian heritage. The arrival
at the Mughal court of a Zafarnama manuscript, illustrated by the Persian master
Bihzad, encouraged Akbar to commission one of his own. Though an active patron
of manuscripts Akbar was illiterate, and we can assume that the illustrations took on
increased importance. Although no dated folios survive from the manuscript, by cross-
referencing the names of the artists with the years they were active, and taking into
account a sub-imperial Zafarnama manuscript produced in 1600, it is likely that the royal
Zafarnama was produced between 1595 and 1600.

This moment depicted on our folio follows a failed attempt on Timur’s life, after which he
launched a campaign to punish the conspirators who were hiding out in Khwarazm. In
1375 his army caught up with Turkhan Erlat, one of the would-be assassins, at Sipaya on
the banks of the Oxus. Seeing that he was outnumbered, Turkhan Erlat fled pursued by a
group of cavalrymen. After running him to ground near Farayab, Timur's commander Pulad
fought Turkhan Erlat in single combat. According to the Tarikh-i Rashidi, Pulad cried out
'long live Amir Timur!' before dealing him the fatal blow (N. Elias, A History of the Moghuls
of Central Asia, London, 1895, p.45). He then cut off his head, as illustrated in this painting,
and sent it back to Timur to bring the campaign to a victorious - if grisly - conclusion.
This painting was executed by an artist known alternately as Madhav or Madhu, whom
Abu’l Fazl described as ‘one of the leading painters of Akbar’s court’ (S. P. Verma, Mughal
Painters and their Work, New Delhi, 1994, p.234). He was one of the artists involved in
creating the Akbarnama, from which there are two folios signed by him which are in the
Victoria and Albert Museum, London (IS.2:14-1896 and IS.2:114-1896). Another folio which
he contributed to the royal Zafarnama can be found in the Eva and Konrad Seitz Collection,
Zurich (John Seyller and Konrad Seitz, Mughal and Deccani Paintings, Zurich, 2010, pp.42-
44). Another Zafarnama folio signed by Madhav sold in these Rooms, 26 April 2012, lot
5. A further illustrated folio from this manuscript, signed by Jagjivan Kalan, sold in these
Rooms, 31 March, 2022, lot 70.

Attribution to the artist in the lower margin

114 In addition to the hammer price, a Buyer’s Premium (plus VAT) is payable. Other taxes and/or an Artist Resale Royalty 115
fee are also payable if the lot has a tax or λ symbol. Check Section D of the Conditions of Sale at the back of this catalogue.