Babur meeting with Sultan Ali Mirza at the Kohik River, from a Babur-nama (Memoirs of Babur)
Unknown Artist
c. 1590
Medium
Gum tempera and gold on paper
Dimensions
41 × 27.1 cm · image: 28 × 16.5 cm
Classification
Painting
Department
Indian and Southeast Asian Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund
Accession Number
1971.85
About this artwork
Thirty years before he captured Delhi and founded the Mughal Empire, Babur began his expansionist activities at the age of 13, as depicted in this painting of an encounter that took place in 1496. Having traveled long distances across harsh dry terrain, Babur confronted one of his rivals who, like him, was angling to march on and conquer the illustrious city of Samarkand, the former capital of his ancestor Timur.