Kitab-i Nauras

The Kitab-i Nauras is a collection of songs written by Ibrahim Adil Shah II in Deccani Urdu, with a Persian preface by his poet laureate Zuhuri, the first of his three essays. ¹ Zuhuri explains the name: Indians call a mixture of nine juices nauras — in Indian aesthetics one or more of nine essences is present in every work of art — while in Persian it means "newly arrived, fresh". ³

For Mark Zebrowski the book reveals Ibrahim's character and his synthesis of Hindu and Islamic traditions: it has songs on the ragamala and on his grief at parting from his favourite elephant Atash Khan and his tambur Moti Khan. He notes that it opens with an invocation to Saraswati, goddess of learning, as a Hindu writer would, followed by praise of the Prophet ﷺ Muhammad and of the Deccani saint Gesudaraz buried at Gulbarga, and that in song fifty-six Ibrahim describes himself with the attributes and mount of a Hindu god. ² This is the author's reading of a poetic text; the museum reports it and makes no judgement on the sultan's belief.

The author thinks these descriptions very likely formed the subject of paintings: the portrait of the sultan in Prague matches his self-description, holding a musical instrument, with a rosary at his neck, painted nails and two elephants in the distance. ²