The Emperor Shah Jahan with his Son Dara Shikoh | Restored Mughal Wall Art

A quiet moment between father and son: the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan and his eldest son Dara Shikoh, examining precious stones together. Around them, in the broad floral border, peacocks, peafowl, chukor partridges and various flowers inhabit the margins — the world that surrounded the imperial court.

Painted by Nanha, ca. 1620, in ink, opaque watercolor and gold on paper. Dara Shikoh, the eldest and the most beloved son of Shah Jahan, was a scholar and Sufi prince who translated the Upanishads from Sanskrit into Persian — and whose execution by his younger brother Aurangzeb in 1659 became one of the great tragedies of the Mughal dynasty.

The folio belongs to the Shah Jahan Album, the most ambitious imperial album ever assembled by the Mughal court — commissioned to honour the painters and calligraphers of his father Jahangir's atelier.

Restored from the museum archives by aurahliving.com.