The Princesses of the Seven Pavilions Bow in Homage to Bahram Gur

Description In this 16th-century illustration of the five poems of the medieval Indian poet Amir Khusraw Dihlavi, the princesses of the seven pavilions bow before the 5th-century Persian prince Bahram Gur. Through an edifying tale, each of them will lead Bahram on a journey from being a pleasure-seeking prince to a wise and just king. Gardens figure largely in the instructive stories told by the princesses as places where the hero learns an important lesson.

Exhibitions

• Pearls of the Parrot of India: The Emperor Akbar's Illustrated "Khamsa," 1597-1598. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. 2005-2006.
• Paradise Imagined: Images of the Garden in the Islamic and Christian World. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. 2012.

Provenance Muhammad Zaki, 1241 AH/AD 1825-1826 [mode of acquisition unknown] [oval seal, fols. 1a, 211a]; 'abd al-raji Muhammad Shafi', 1247 AH/AD 1831-1832 [mode of acquisition unknown] [rectangular seal fols. 1a, 211a]; Muhammad 'Ali [date and mode of acquisition unknown] [large oval seal with no date on fol. 211a]; Henry Walters, Baltimore [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters