Khusrau, the King of Kings, pays homage to the pious daughter of Khassa, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Fifty-first Night (c. 1560): Art, History and Details

Khusrau, the King of Kings, pays homage to the pious daughter of Khassa, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Fifty-first Night (c. 1560) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

After being abandoned in the desert by her cruel husband, Khassa’s daughter is discovered by Khusrau, who is instantly captivated by her religious devotion. He proposes marriage and aptly punishes those who were cruel to her. The brick well that sustained her for many days in the desert is depicted in the foreground.

Object facts

• Title: Khusrau, the King of Kings, pays homage to the pious daughter of Khassa, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Fifty-first Night
• Date: c. 1560
• Culture: Mughal India, court of Akbar (reigned 1556–1605)
• Type: Painting
• Technique: gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper
• Dimensions: Overall: 20.3 x 14 cm (8 x 5 1/2 in.); Painting only: 9.9 x 9.9 cm (3 7/8 x 3 7/8 in.)
• Collection: Indian Art
• Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
• Accession number: 1962.279.329.b

A detail from the museum

The woman kneels on a rug and holds prayer beads, signaling her Islamic faith.

Collection credit

Gift of Mrs. A. Dean Perry

Further reading listed by the museum

• Chandra, Pramod, and Daniel J. Ehnbom. The Cleveland Tuti-Nama Manuscript and the Origins of Mughal Painting. [Cleveland]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1976.

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.