Abd al-Hamid Lahori

عبد الحميد اللاهوري

Historian at Shah Jahan's court, author of the most famous Padshah-nama, whose first part he based on Muhammad Amin Qazwini's history; he cannot have begun his text before 1646 1.

Depth

At a glance

Roles
Historian
Region
South Asia

Arts of the book

Summary

Abd al-Hamid Lahori wrote the most famous Padshah-nama, the official biography of Shah Jahan whose illustrated copy is at Windsor. He used the Padshah-nama of Muhammad Amin Qazwini, completed in 1646, for his first part, so, Milo Cleveland Beach notes, he cannot have begun his text before then. 1

From his text

Beach quotes his description of Shah Jahan's throne for the eighth regnal year to show that contemporary accounts disagree on the number and material of its columns, though all agree on the peacocks. 2

People and things also explored

Abbasid tin-glazed ware· Ahmadnagar painting· Proportional script and the six pens (al-aqlam al-sitta)· Arabesque· Bijapur painting· Broken cursive (New Style)· Deccani painting· Divani script

Sources

  1. Milo Cleveland Beach, The Grand Mogul: Imperial Painting in India 1600–1660 (Williamstown, Mass.: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1978) , p. 76
  2. Milo Cleveland Beach, The Grand Mogul: Imperial Painting in India 1600–1660 (Williamstown, Mass.: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1978) , p. 78
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Abd al-Hamid Lahori”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/person/abd-al-hamid-lahori/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-11-04.

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Wing

People

Prophets, companions, scholars, rulers, scientists, poets, travelers: women and men who shaped the story.
Related

Abbasid tin-glazed ware

Ninth-century Iraqi pottery covered with an opaque white glaze made with tin oxide to resemble white Chinese ware, then painted in blue, green and purple or in lustre.