Cleveland Museum of Art

Hearing her declaration of love, Ayaz falls at the feet of Mahmuda at the holy shrine. The scene is witnessed by Salim, Ayaz’s friend, and a maid, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Thirty-third Night

Date

c. 1560

Medium

gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper

Culture

Mughal India, court of Akbar (reigned 1556–1605)

Department

Indian and Southeast Asian Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

On the right, an ecstatic Ayaz, dressed in the orange tunic, reunites with his lover, Mahmuda, in a cemetery after her unwilling marriage to another man. Despite this separation, their mutual love has remained true. Salim, watching the reunion with Mahmuda’s maid, quickly devises a plan that will allow the couple to remain together. The red fence designates the boundary of a sacred space.

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