Battle between Manuchihr and Tur, from a Shah-nama (Book of Kings) of Firdausi (Persian, c. 934–1020) (c. 1610): Art, History and Details

Battle between Manuchihr and Tur, from a Shah-nama (Book of Kings) of Firdausi (Persian, c. 934–1020) (c. 1610) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

This battle sets the stage for the ages-long enmity in the epic Shah-nama between the people of Iran and Turan—identified as Turkistan, the lands to the east of Iran. The conflict resulted from a bitter family feud that began when a warrior king divided his realm among his three sons; the older two were murderously jealous of the youngest, Iraj, to whom the best lands, those of Iran, were given. In this painting, the warrior in the center is Manuchihr, the grandson of Iraj, avenging his grandfather’s murder by slaying Tur, Iraj’s older brother to whom the less desirable lands of Turan were given. The confusion of battle is skillfully rendered through clustering warriors and warhorses together with varied postures, colors, and patterns.

Object facts

• Title: Battle between Manuchihr and Tur, from a Shah-nama (Book of Kings) of Firdausi (Persian, c. 934–1020)
• Date: c. 1610
• Culture: Mughal India, court of Jahangir (reigned 1605–27)
• Type: Painting
• Technique: Gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper
• Dimensions: Image: 12.4 x 11 cm (4 7/8 x 4 5/16 in.); Overall: 34.6 x 22.9 cm (13 5/8 x 9 in.)
• Collection: Indian Art
• Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
• Accession number: 1945.171

A detail from the museum

Battles were waged to the sound of horns and the beat of drums on camels.

Collection credit

Edward L. Whittemore Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Leach, Linda York. Indian Miniature Paintings and Drawings. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1986.

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.