Cleveland Museum of Art

The dervish brings in as dowry an elephant laden with gold, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Seventh 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

The eccentric dervish, wearing a fur cap, a leopard-skin skirt, and chains around his neck, chest, and legs, comes to the king with the very thing the king thought he could never provide: an elephant laden with gold in exchange for the princess’s hand in marriage. The dervish had gone to the magnanimous King of Kings—the overlord of this local king—with his plight: in order to marry the princess, he had to provide an elephant laden with gold as a dowry. The King of Kings, who could not resist a good love story, provided it for him. The text of the story is written in Persian in a naskh script, which is read from right to left. This painting is attributed to the same unnamed artist who painted folio 27r ( CMA 1962.279.27.a ).

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