Mahrusa kills herself at the tomb of the king of Zabul, and her husband does likewise, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Thirty-sixth Night (c. 1560): Art, History and Details

Mahrusa kills herself at the tomb of the king of Zabul, and her husband does likewise, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Thirty-sixth 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:

Mahrusa lies slumped across the king’s tomb with a gold knife imbedded in her chest. She has committed suicide as penance for the king’s death. Mahrusa’s husband lies dead at her side, bloody knife in hand. On the right, a man watches the gruesome scene in shock. Following their deaths, Mahrusa, her husband, and the king become revered as martyrs.

Object facts

• Title: Mahrusa kills herself at the tomb of the king of Zabul, and her husband does likewise, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Thirty-sixth 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: 10.2 x 10.3 cm (4 x 4 1/16 in.)
• Collection: Indian Art
• Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
• Accession number: 1962.279.242.a

A detail from the museum

Mahrusa is married to the prefect of the city.

Collection credit

Gift of Mrs. A. Dean Perry

Further reading listed by the museum

• Seyller, John. “Overpainting in the Cleveland T̤ūtīnāma.” Artibus Asiae 52, no. 3/4 (1992): 283-318.

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.