Miniature from a copy of Amir Khusraw Dihlawi’s Khamsa. ‘Amir Khusraw Dedicates his Work to Ala al-Din Muhammad Shah Khalji, Sultan of Delhi’
India; c. 1450-1470
Leaf: 34.5 × 26.2 cm
The earliest preserved Islamic book painting from India is from the sultanate period and dates to not earlier than the 15th century. The style in these works is quite diverse and perhaps reflects the influence of both Egypt and western Iran, and naturally also local Indian art.
Amir Khusraw (1253-1325) was very productive and the most famous Indo-Persian poet of the Middle Ages. In many ways, his Khamsa is a paraphrase of Nizami’s older work of the same name. Both this and his other work provide unique sources for an understanding of the period’s Islamic culture in India.
Inv. no. 25/1980
Published in:
Anand Krishna (ed.): Chhavi, vol. 2: Rai Krishnadasa felicitation volume, Varanasi 1981, fig. 31;
Annika Richert (ed.): Islam: konst och kultur / art and culture, Statens historiska museum, Stockholm 1985, cat.no. 57, pp. 172 and 175;
Kjeld von Folsach: Islamic art. The David Collection, Copenhagen 1990, cat.no. 39;
Kjeld von Folsach, Torben Lundbæk and Peder Mortensen (eds.): Sultan, Shah and Great Mughal: the history and culture of the Islamic world, The National Museum, Copenhagen 1996, cat.no. 299;
Éloïse Brac de la Perrière: ”Les manuscrits à peintures dans l'Inde des sultanats: l'exemple de la Khamse dispersée d'Amir Khosrow Dehlavi, c.1450” in Arts asiatiques, 56, 2001, fig. 24;
Kjeld von Folsach: Art from the World of Islam in The David Collection, Copenhagen 2001, cat.no. 55;
Barbara Brend: Perspectives on Persian painting : illustrations to Amîr Khusrau’s Khamsah, London 2003, pl. 27;
Kjeld von Folsach: For the Privileged Few: Islamic Miniature Painting from The David Collection, Louisiana, Humlebæk 2007, cat.no. 31;
Shakeel Hossain: World of Khusrau: innovations & contributions, National Museum, New Delhi 2014, p. 101;
Shakeel Hossain (ed.): Jashn-e-Khusrau 2013: celebrating the genius of Khusrau, New Delhi 2014, p. 87;
Mentioned in John Seyller: Pearls of the parrot of India: the Walters Art Museum Khamsa of Amîr Khusraw of Delhi, Baltimore 2001, p. 145;
Verner Jul Andersen: Islamisk Kunst fra Indien, Davids Samling, København 1980, cat.no.1 (no photo);
