The disguised Arab, substituting for Habbaza, is whipped by her husband for refusing a bowl of milk, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Twenty-fourth Night (c. 1560): Art, History and Details

The disguised Arab, substituting for Habbaza, is whipped by her husband for refusing a bowl of milk, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Twenty-fourth 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:

While Habbaza is away carrying on an affair with her lover Bashir, Bashir’s friend dresses in Habbaza’s clothes and waits in her tent. Each night, Habbaza’s husband offers her milk and when she refuses, leaves her in peace. This time, however, he becomes enraged at her silence and lashes out.

Object facts

• Title: The disguised Arab, substituting for Habbaza, is whipped by her husband for refusing a bowl of milk, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Twenty-fourth 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: 12.5 x 10.1 cm (4 15/16 x 4 in.)
• Collection: Indian Art
• Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
• Accession number: 1962.279.169.b

A detail from the museum

The white bowl of milk sits neglected in the center of the scene.

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.