Painting

The seal impression on the lower right of the border gives the lineage of the emperors from their descendant, the Central Asian ruler Timur, to Shah Jahan's father, Jahangir (r. 16t05-1627). Although from an authentic seal, the addition of the impression was probably added in about 1800.

The folio was part of a group of paintings, all with illuminated calligraphy on the reverse, that was acquired at auction in London and given to Lady Wantage by her father in 1868 on her twenty-first birthday. She bequeathed them to the museum in 1921, and at that time all were considered to be authentic examples of painting and calligraphy from the first half of the 17th century. In 1949, the great Indian scholar Moti Chandra identified a number of the folios as the work of later artists and calligraphers, suggesting a date of about 1800 for their creation.