Babur meeting with Sultan Ali Mirza at the Kohik River, from a Babur-nama (Memoirs of Babur) (c. 1590): Art, History and Details

Babur meeting with Sultan Ali Mirza at the Kohik River, from a Babur-nama (Memoirs of Babur) (c. 1590) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Thirty years before he captured Delhi and founded the Mughal Empire, Babur began his expansionist activities at the age of 13, as depicted in this painting of an encounter that took place in 1496. Having traveled long distances across harsh dry terrain, Babur confronted one of his rivals who, like him, was angling to march on and conquer the illustrious city of Samarkand, the former capital of his ancestor Timur.

Object facts

• Title: Babur meeting with Sultan Ali Mirza at the Kohik River, from a Babur-nama (Memoirs of Babur)
• Date: c. 1590
• Culture: India, Mughal school, 16th century
• Type: Painting
• Technique: Gum tempera and gold on paper
• Dimensions: Image: 28 x 16.5 cm (11 x 6 1/2 in.); Overall: 41 x 27.1 cm (16 1/8 x 10 11/16 in.)
• Collection: Indian Art
• Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
• Accession number: 1971.85

A detail from the museum

Camels carry collapsed tents to be pitched for nightly encampments and parties.

Collection credit

Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.