Padshahnamah fol. 174r
(plate 35)

Abdullah Khan and Khan-Dawran rally before entering the Onrchhah Fort in October 1635 following the escape of Jujhar Singh Bundelah and his son Bikramajit Jag-Raj.

Jujhar Singh Bundelah and his son Bikramajit deserted an assignment in the Deccan in 1635 and seized imperial territories for themselves. The Mughal military leaders of Shah-Jahan’s Deccan campaigns, Abdullah Kahn Bahadur, Sayyid Khan Jahan and Khan Dawran, depicted on horseback in the centre, ‘were ordered to uproot the corruption of the wretched miscreants and set an example to all other short-sighted individuals who did not appreciate their own wellbeing’ by storming their home, the Orchha Fort.

The three commanders are depicted on horseback surrounded by their troops in front of the fortress which has already been captured. In the left background, the lightly sketched Mughal army storms through the jungle of Bundelkhand hunting down the rebels.  

The painting is signed by the artist Tezdast and is the only known work him.

Bibliography:
Milo Beach and Ebba Koch, King of the world : the Padshahnama, an imperial Mughal manuscript from the Royal Library, Windsor Castle, 1996
Saqib Baburi, Beyond the Akbarnamah: Padshahnamahs and Official Regnal Chronography for Shah-Jahan Padshah (r. 1037/1628-1068/1658), 2010.