Emperor Jahangir at the Jharoka Window

By Medieval Mughal Painters

circa 1620 · Gouache on ink · 22.047 in × 12.598 in · Mughal Miniature

Commission a hand-painted reproduction from Panchrang artists.

A Mughal folio from a dispersed manuscript of the Jahangirnama, the memoirs of Emperor Jahangir, now in the Aga Khan Museum. It shows the emperor appearing at the jharoka, the balcony window of the Agra Fort, in the daily ritual of jharokha darshan where the ruler presented himself to his people. His senior officials stand on the marble terrace just below, while lower-ranking officers and commoners gather in the courtyard beneath. Near the canopy hangs the golden chain of justice, by which any subject could in principle petition the emperor directly, though here a would-be petitioner is shown being beaten back.

The painting is attributed to Abu'l-Hasan, Jahangir's favoured court artist, titled Nadir-uz-Zaman ("Wonder of the Age"), with the calligraphy on the reverse ascribed to Muhammad Husayn al-Kashmiri, the master penman known as Zarin Qalam ("Golden Pen").