The siege of Arbela in the era of Hulagu Khan, page from a Chingiz-nama (Book of Chingiz Khan) of the Jami al-tavarikh (Compendium of Chronicles) of Rashid al-Din (Persian,1247–1318)

Also known as: The Siege of Arbela in the Era of Hulagu Khan

About the Artwork

A Mongol conqueror riding a white horse gazes stonily at his defeated West Asian opponent in a scene that took place more than 300 years before this painting was made. By the end of the 1500s there was a new emphasis on creating paintings to accompany historical texts. Visually, the diagonal composition with cityscape at the top of the page—also found among the earliest Mughal paintings—was expanded to include throngs of participants and a startling new naturalism. Painting from the Akbar period reached its maturity by the 1590s in works such as this: dynamic in composition and gestures but contained within organized spaces and emphasized three-dimensionality.

Inscriptions

recto lower left: [translated] Siege of the fort of Irbil by Urgatu Nuyan and the attainment of victory by command of Hulagu Khan.; verso overall: [text]

Provenance

Demotte ?-1947: (Heeramaneck Galleries, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) 1947-: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Exhibition history

Exhibition of the Month: Indian Miniatures. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 15-September 28, 1952). Art and Stories from Mughal India. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 31-October 23, 2016).

Quick Overview

Artist: Sur Das (Indian)
Date: c. 1596
Medium: Gum tempera and gold on paper
Dimensions: Image: 34 x 20 cm (13 3/8 x 7 7/8 in.); Overall: 38.5 x 25 cm (15 3/16 x 9 13/16 in.); with mat: 49 x 36.3 cm (19 5/16 x 14 5/16 in.)
Type: Painting
Classification: Painting
Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
Credit line: Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
Accession no.: 1947.502.a

Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.