Padshahnamah fol. 92v
(plate 15)

Shah-Jahan’s general Azam Khan captures the fort at Dharur in January 1631.

Despite Shah-Jahan’s successes in the Deccan as a Prince, the area remained resistant to Mughal control during the early years of his reign. A renewed campaign saw Dharur (also known as Fathabad) as the first fortress to fall to Shah-Jahan’s forces after the commander of the fort, Sidi Salim Habashi, surrendered on 27 January 1631. Dharur was an important market town, and according to the Padshahnamah text, was renowned ‘for its impregnability and ability to withstand siege, it being situated atop a hill with streams on two sides.’ The text also refers to the capture of three elephants that wondered into the ditch around the fortress and the scaling of the walls by ladders and ropes, details of which are depicted in this scene. The Mughal general, Azam Khan, is the principal figure on horseback on the right of the painting.

The artist Balchand singed the work on a shield at the bottom left: ‘drawn by Balchand, slave of the court, the aged servant.’ The composition is similar to that of another painting in the manuscript depicting the siege of a fortress by the artist’s brother Payag (RCIN 1005025.s).

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.