Mihrab’s wife, Sindukht, comes out with slaves carrying gifts to welcome Sam

Location: Tabriz, Iran

Materials: ink, gold and opaque watercolour on paper; margins heavily sprinkled with gold

Dimensions: 47.3 x 31.7cm (folio); 27.2 x 17.1cm (written surface, recto); 24.5 x 17.1cm (illustration, verso)

Accession Number: MSS 1030, folio 89b

Other Notes:

Mihrab, with elephants, musicians and an honour guard, meets Sam and escorts him to Kabul. Waiting for them outside the palace is Mihrab’s wife, Sindukht, with 300 female slaves, each holding a golden cup brimming with gems or musk.

[For the Shahnamah of Shah Tahmasp, see MSS 1030]

Script:

text copied in a superior nasta‘liq script, with 22 lines to the page, arranged in 4 columns, two to a couplet; heading (on the recto) in riqa‘

Bibliography:

J.M. Rogers, The Arts of Islam. Masterpieces from the Khalili Collection, London 2010, cat.303, pp.264 and 266.