A Shahnama from Transoxiana
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A SHAHNAMA FROM TRANSOXIANA NORAH M. TITLEY THE Department of Oriental Manuscripts and Printed Books has recently acquired an unusual, and stylistically rare, illustrated copy of the Shahnama (Book of Kings) by Firdawsi (Or. 13859). The latter part of the manuscript, which might have included a colophon, is missing but the miniatures appear to be in the late Timurid style of Transoxiana of which so little has survived and which has hitherto not been represented in the collection. Two artists have worked on the manuscript. Artist A in a bold style with large figures whilst Artist B is responsible for more refined work. The miniatures by Artist B are forerunners of sixteenth-century Bukhara work before it was influenced by artists, working in the Later Herat style, who went to Bukhara after the conquest of Herat by the Shaybanid Uzbeks early in the sixteenth century. This would place the manuscript in the late fifteenth or very early sixteenth century. Shah Rukh, who died in 1447 and who maintained his academy at Herat, was an important patron of the book as were his sons Baysunghur (d. 1433), Ibrahim Sultan (d. 1435), and Ulugh Beg (d. 1449)- It is recorded that after Shah Rukh's death in 1447, Ulugh Beg took artists, calligraphers, and others concerned with book production back to his capital at Samarkand but very little has survived in the way of manuscripts produced under his patronage or in the succeeding years after his death. I am indebted to Mr. B. W. Robinson for notes on a copy ofthe Shahnama similar in style and format (it also measures 320 x 200 mm.) which is in the Malik Library (no. 5986) in Tehran. It is possible that the same artists worked on both manuscripts. The miniatures painted by one ofthe artists (Artist A) share the unusual characteristics of the large bold figures and the fact that Rustam has a plain helmet without the leopard-head which is invariably worn over it. The large figures are unique in style and quite unlike any appearing in contemporary manuscripts of the late fifteenth or early sixteenth centuries, whether produced at the main centres of Herat, Tabriz, or Shiraz, or their provincial offshoots. Provincial miniatures, i.e. manuscripts copied and illustrated outside the main centres, are invariably much simpler in style, although often more original in choice and interpretation of subjects, than those produced at academies maintained by the great patrons. Miniatures in provincial styles usually have some characteristics which connect them with the main school so that it is possible to 158 place them approximately, hence the terms North Provincial, South Provincial, and so on. This recently acquired Shahnama is illustrated in a provincial style of painting that firmly allies it with Transoxiana, whether Samarkand, Bukhara, or elsewhere. The work ofthe second artist (Artist B) may also be represented in the Malik Library Shahnama in which six miniatures are described by Mr. Robinson as bearing some resemblance to second-rate Bukhara work. Certainly the style of Artist B's paintings in the British Library manuscript are forerunners of later sixteenth-century Bukhara work of which there are many examples in various collections, including the British Library. After Herat fell to the ShaybanT Uzbeks in 1507 the capital was moved by •;v^ -W^/. ^'^' i^M^'.. '.^J ig. I. Bahram Chubma insulted by Hurmuzd (fol. 43'). Artist B 159 ;§•. 2. Rustam killing the White Demon (fol. 61"^). Artist A them to Bukhara. Some Herat artists went to the famous academy of Shah Isma*Tl and his son Shah Tahmasp in north-west Iran at Tabriz and others went to Bukhara. The artists working in the elegant Herat style of c. 1480-1500, with its jewel-like colours, had a profound effect on Persian miniature painting both in Tabriz and in Bukhara. The Herat artists worked with those already at Bukhara in Transoxiana and by 1520 the effect on painting there is marked. In these forerunners, the work by Artist B is in striking contrast to Artist A's bold style. The figures are small and neat (figs, i, 3, 5-7, 9-12) and the landscapes are dotted about with flowering plants whicfi, though stylized, are individual and varied, a feature which consistently occurs also in later Bukhara work. An unusual characteristic of the figures in the work of both artists are the expressive eyebrows. These are particularly noticeable on individuals who are carrying out distasteful tasks such as Bahram Chubma dressed in women's clothes (fig. I, Artist B), Rustam plunging his dagger into the White Demon (fig. 2, Artist A), or Isfandiyar undergoing a form of traction (fig. 3, Artist B). Differences in the styles of these two artists are also apparent in the treatment of rocks. Those surrounding the White Demon's cave (fig. 2, Artist A) are small, almost fungal in shape, and are reminiscent of similar rock formations seen in Herat miniatures ofthe 1430s and 1440s. In contrast. Artist B's use of strong brush strokes (figs. 3, 6, and 9) to convey the effect of layers of rock is most unusual. An interesting interpretation of a subject is to be seen in the episode of the rescue of FarangTs from enemy territory by her son, Kay Khusraw, and the warrior GTv (fig. 4, Artist A). They are shown crossing the River Oxus on horseback, having been refused passage by the ferryman who is to be seen skulking in his boat in the background. 160 This subject is occasionally illustrated in manuscripts of the Shahnama but certainly not in this manner. Farangis is invariably shown as a shy timid figure, either disguised as a soldier or else in her woman's costume. However clothed, she is always the passive member of the group. Not so in this illustration, for it is the young Kay Khusraw who is shy and timid which is not surprising when FarangTs is studied. Mouth set and eyes glaring, she shakes a threatening finger at her nervous son in such a way that speculation must arise as to whether Artist A suffered from female domination. The horses, with their long necks and elegant heads, and the curling waves of the water are reminiscent of Tabriz work of the early fourteenth century which has similar characteristics. Shah Rukh had some of these manuscripts of the Jdmi* al-tavarikh in his library and the Fig. 3. Isfandiyar being tortured (fol. 222^). Artist B 161 f. ^. Kay Khusraw escorting Farangis across the River Oxus (fol. artists working for him were probably influenced by this style of an earlier century and passed it down to their successors. Artist B also added touches of originality to his interpretation of subjects. There is nothing in Firdawsi's poetry to suggest that he should festoon his dragons with ribbons (fig. 5) or give his lion startling whites to its eyes (fig. 6). He followed the text to the letter but chose a seldom-illustrated episode in his painting of the punishment of Isfandiyar. Isfandiyar, son of Gushtasp, was slandered by an enemy and Gushtasp, believing the tales, ordered him to be fettered and banished to a mountain top. Most 162 illustrations to this story show blacksmiths putting chains on Isfandiyar but this miniature (fig. 3) illustrates the lines 'they bore him ... to a stronghold on a mountain top, carried four iron columns there and bound him to them'. He is shown, in an acutely uncomfortable position, spreadeagled between the posts to which he is tied by neck. S- 5- Gushtasp killing the dragon (fol. 208"^). Artist B ankles, and wrists, his furrowed brow and expressive eyebrows eloquently conveying his agony. The same artist (B), in the illustration to the incident of Isfandiyar killing the wolves (fig. 7), the first of seven trials he had to undergo to rescue his sisters, has followed the peculiarity of several other Shahnama illustrators in confusing the word for wolf igurg) with that for rhinoceros {kurkadan). The result is a most peculiar dog-like animal with upturned tusks. In the second of the trials, killing the lions, Isfandiyar is riding a piebald, a type of horse which is a continuing and constant feature of Bukhara work (fig. 6). 163 In his painting of Isfandiyar*s fifth trial, the killing of the giant mythical bird, the simurgh. Artist B has used his bold brushstrokes to great effect in the flowing red and purple tail plumes and long stiff wing feathers. This is a very different bird from the usual stmurgh which owed its origin to the Chinese phoenix, but it is no less dramatic Fig. 6. Isfandiyar killing the lions (fol. 229^). Artist B in spite of its short uneven beak, white eye, and clumsy body. Its two young chicks in their nest resemble cranes and are green in colour and it is difficult to imagine that they could ever look like their parent (fig. 9). At the beginning ofthe manuscript, on the opening folio, there is a circular illuminated border from the centre of which an inscription, probably a dedication, has been completely removed. This is unfortunate because it might—like the missing colophon- have given details of patron, calligrapher, place, and date. The 'unvan, or heading, at the beginning of the text is somewhat damp-stained and faded. There are twenty-eight half-page miniatures with some slight retouching of faces here and there. The 164 . 7. Isfandiyar killing the wolves (fol. 228^). Artist B nineteenth-century black morocco binding has a gold-tooled central medallion and corner cartouches, and red doublures. At some stage folios have been trimmed, some having been bound in the wrong order.