Image: The battle of Mazandaran

Description: This large-scale painting depicts the Battle of Mazandaran, an event in the Persian romance of the mythical adventures and battles of Amir Hamzah, the uncle of the Prophet Muhammad, recorded in the famous "Hamzahnamah" (Book of Hamzah). The "Hamzahnamah" was begun around 1564 under the sponsorship of the Mughal Emperor Akbar (r. 1556-1605) and was completed in approximately fifteen years. A number of the manuscript's original folios totaling 1,400 in number -- including this painting and its attending text (1-90-154.188 V) -- were brought together, exhibited, and published in 2002 (Seyller 2002: 262-3, fig. 41). This painting is number 38 in the 7th volume of the "Hamzahnamah", as inscribed between the legs of the man in the bottom center. It depicts a battle scene in which the protagonists Khwajah 'Umar and Hamzah (nicknamed Sahib Qiran, "Owner of the Epochs") and their armies engage in fierce battle. Originally, the faces were depicted, subsequently erased by iconoclasts, and repainted in more recent times. Only the face of the groom wearing an orange turban in the center of the left edge has been left untouched. Immediately above this figure, a soldier in a studded gold tunic has a disjointed face, revealing how an old border was removed and faces retouched. Approximately 50 painters worked on the project under the supervision of the famous artists Mir Sayyid 'Ali and 'Abd al-Samad, who both had worked ca. 1522-35 on the royal "Shahnamah" of the Safavid ruler Shah Tahmasp (see Dickson and Welch 1981). Although a number of paintings are linked to specific artists, this one does not bear a particular attribution mark. The large-scale text panel on the verso describes the Battle of Mazandaran. The text is executed in black nasta'liq script on a large beige sheet of paper that bears substantial water damage. The last three lines also exhibit the crowded writing that is seen frequently in the manuscript as the scribe(s) struggled to complete the narrative account on each text page.
Title: The battle of Mazandaran
Credit: Library of Congress
Author: Unknown Calligrapher
Permission: This is a faithful photographic reproduction of a two-dimensional, public domain work of art. The work of art itself is in the public domain for the following reason: This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 70 years or less. You must also include a United States public domain tag to indicate why this work is in the public domain in the United States. Note that a few countries have copyright terms longer than 70 years: Mexico has 100 years, Jamaica has 95 years, Colombia has 80 years, and Guatemala and Samoa have 75 years. This image may not be in the public domain in these countries, which moreover do not implement the rule of the shorter term. Côte d'Ivoire has a general copyright term of 99 years and Honduras has 75 years, but they do implement the rule of the shorter term. Copyright may extend on works created by French who died for France in World War II (more information), Russians who served in the Eastern Front of World War II (known as the Great Patriotic War in Russia) and posthumously rehabilitated victims of Soviet repressions (more information). This file has been identified as being free of known restrictions under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights. The official position taken by the Wikimedia Foundation is that "faithful reproductions of two-dimensional public domain works of art are public domain". This photographic reproduction is therefore also considered to be in the public domain in the United States. In other jurisdictions, re-use of this content may be restricted; see Reuse of PD-Art photographs for details. Template:PD-Art template without license parameter: please specify why the underlying work is public domain in both the source country and the United States (Usage: Template:PD-Art, where parameter #1 can be PD-old-auto, PD-old-auto-1923, PD-old-auto-1996, PD-old-100 or similar. See Commons:Multi-license copyright tags for more information.)
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License: Public domain
Attribution Required?: No