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Muraqqa'-e-Gulshan (Gulshan Album)

Objects Words

مرقع گلشن (ألبوم گلشن)

One of two large surviving volumes of Jahangir's albums, in the Imperial Library of the Gulistan Palace, Tehran; its few dated pages fall between 1599 and 1609, and its margins hold Daulat's portraits of fellow painters 1 2.

Depth

At a glance

Region
South Asia

In time

1590160016101620
The Gunpowder Empires

Arts of the book

Summary

The Muraqqa'-e-Gulshan is one of two large volumes of Jahangir's albums that remain substantially intact; it is now in the Imperial Library, Gulistan Palace, Tehran, and its few dated pages fall between 1599, when Jahangir was still a prince, and 1609. 3 1

Contents

It holds two pages among the earliest known works of Aqa Riza, almost purely Iranian, and margins signed by him and dated 1008 AH/1599–1600 CE that use European motifs — proof for Milo Cleveland Beach that he was then copying European prints. 4 5 6 Among its treasures is a series of marginal portraits by Daulat, about 1605–9, of fellow artists at work — Abu'l Hasan, Bishan Das, Manohar, Govardhan and Daulat himself — which make up for the lack of written notices of these men; from one we learn that Abu'l Hasan was left-handed. 2 7 8 An inscription in its borders states that Bishan Das was a nephew of Nanha. 9

Connections

Explore the connections

Commissioned by
Jahangir
Exemplifies
The Mughal album (muraqqa')

People and things also explored

The Minto Album· Abu'l Hasan, Nadir al-Zaman· Aqa Riza (painter to Jahangir)· Bishan Das· Daulat (Mughal painter)· Govardhan (Mughal painter)· Manohar (Mughal painter)· Nanha (Mughal painter)

Sources

  1. Milo Cleveland Beach, The Grand Mogul: Imperial Painting in India 1600–1660 (Williamstown, Mass.: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1978) , p. 40
  2. Milo Cleveland Beach, The Grand Mogul: Imperial Painting in India 1600–1660 (Williamstown, Mass.: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1978) , p. 43
  3. Milo Cleveland Beach, The Grand Mogul: Imperial Painting in India 1600–1660 (Williamstown, Mass.: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1978) , p. 23
  4. Milo Cleveland Beach, The Grand Mogul: Imperial Painting in India 1600–1660 (Williamstown, Mass.: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1978) , p. 20
  5. Milo Cleveland Beach, The Grand Mogul: Imperial Painting in India 1600–1660 (Williamstown, Mass.: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1978) , p. 91
  6. Milo Cleveland Beach, The Grand Mogul: Imperial Painting in India 1600–1660 (Williamstown, Mass.: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1978) , p. 92
  7. Milo Cleveland Beach, The Grand Mogul: Imperial Painting in India 1600–1660 (Williamstown, Mass.: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1978) , p. 84
  8. Milo Cleveland Beach, The Grand Mogul: Imperial Painting in India 1600–1660 (Williamstown, Mass.: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1978) , p. 112
  9. Milo Cleveland Beach, The Grand Mogul: Imperial Painting in India 1600–1660 (Williamstown, Mass.: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1978) , p. 107
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Muraqqa'-e-Gulshan (Gulshan Album)”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/object/muraqqa-e-gulshan/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-11-04.

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Manuscripts, art, architecture and relics from collections worldwide. Related

The Minto Album

An album of Shah Jahan of forty double-sided folios, named after the Earl of Minto, Governor General of India 1807–13; sold in 1925, it is now divided between the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin, and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, and Beach treats its painter inscriptions as reliable.