"Assad Ibn Kariba Launches a Night Attack on the Camp of Malik Iraj", Folio from a Hamzanama (The Adventures of Hamza)

Tara · 1564-01-01T00:00:00Z

The Hamzanama relates the story of Hamza, an uncle of the prophet Mohammad and an ardent defender of the Muslim faith. In this scene, Assad ibn Kariba, a supporter of Hamza shown dressed in an orange jama, takes an army of unbelievers (non-Muslims) by surprise in a night attack. In the midst of the chaos, the unbelievers attack and kill one another. The drama-filled story of the Hamzanama was a favorite of the Mughal emperor Akbar, who commissioned this magnificent manuscript in 1562. Composed of 1400 illustrations and bound into several volumes, the work took nearly one hundred artists fifteen years to complete.