Tasviri Akbar Padeshah va Sheik Saltm Chisti

Single-page painting on a detached album folio. The Mughal emperor Akbar seated under a tree with Shaykh Salim Chisti, one attendant, two female musicians and a goatherd with his goats and dog.
Ink, opaque watercolour and gold on paper.
Mughal Style
Mughal dynasty
18th Century

Shaykh Salim Chishti (saint/martyr; Indian; Male; 1478 - 1572)

Also known as:
Salim Chishti; Salim al-Din Chishti; Saleemuddin Chishti

Sufi saint belonging to the Chishti brotherhood or order, which itself was founded in the town of Chisht (near modern Herat, Afghanistan) around 930 AD. The Mughal emperor Akbar the Great (r. 1556-1605) favoured him as he believed the saint's blessing was responsible for the birth of his first son, whom he named Salim in honour of the saint. Salim woud later succeed his father under the reign name Jahangir (r. 1605-1627). Akbar also built a white marble tomb to honor Shaykh Salim in the courtyard of the mosque at Fatehpur Sikri, the city he had built (completely of red sandstone with the exception of the mausoleum) in present-day Uttar Pradesh, India (near Agra).

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