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Indian and Himalayan Art Kusha Kills Lakshmana Or Pakistan subimperial Mughal, 1616-17 Ascribed to Fazl, Indian, active early 17th century Opaque watercolor, ink, and gold on paper Currently not on view 2004-149-16 Alvin O. Bellak Collection, 2004 |
Gallery LabelThe Razmnama (Book of Wars) is Emperor Akbar's Persian translation of the Hindu epic Mahabharata. The patron of this edition of the Razmnama was the powerful 'Abd al-Rahim, the commander-in-chief of the imperial Mughal army who himself sponsored a notable painting workshop. 'Abd al-Rahim's manuscript follows the Persian format of integrating text blocks into the illustration. This page depicts a subplot featuring characters from another Hindu epic, the Ramayana. Kusha, one of Rama's forsaken twin sons, is shown just after he has shot a magical arrow through his uncle Lakshmana, Rama's brother, who falls from his chariot as he dies. |
