The Parrot Addresses Khujasta at the Beginning of the Eleventh Night, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot)

Also known as: Page from Tales of a Parrot (Tuti-nama): Eleventh night: The parrot addresses Khujasta at the beginning of the eleventh night

About the Artwork

When the lover of the ocean—the sun—entered his place of retirement in the west and the beloved of the stars— the moon—came out of the bride’s apartment in the east, Khujasta with eyes wet like the sea and tears like brilliant gems went to Tuti to ask his permission to leave. . . . Eleven days and nights have come and gone since Khujasta fell for a local prince. Each night, having prepared herself for a lovers’ rendezvous, her husband’s pet parrot has beguiled her into staying up all night listening to his stories at home. On this night, he tells her that it is good that she has sought his advice on going out, for “[Anyone] who seeks counsel in regard to his affairs and secures advice on his problems will see exactly what the Brahman saw.” Unable to stem her curiosity, she asks the parrot what he saw.

Inscriptions

banwārī

Provenance

?–1959: Estate of Breckinridge Long [1881–1958], Bowie, MD 1959–1962?: (Harry Burke Antiques, Philadelphia, PA) 1959?–1962: (Bernard Brown Agency, Milwaukee, WI, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Purchased with funds from Mrs. A. Dean [Helen Wade Greene] Perry) 1962–: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Exhibition history

Animal Fables of Mughal India. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 12-August 29, 2021).

Quick Overview

Artist: Banavari 2 (Indian, active 1550s-1590s)
Date: c. 1560
Medium: gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper
Dimensions: Painting only: 7.7 x 10.1 cm (3 1/16 x 4 in.); Overall: 20.1 x 13.6 cm (7 15/16 x 5 3/8 in.)
Type: Painting
Classification: Painting
Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
Credit line: Gift of Mrs. A. Dean Perry
Accession no.: 1962.279.87.a

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