Shuja’at Khan pursuing Asaf Khan on the River Ganges in north-east India. Asaf Khan was vizier to the Mughal emperor Akbar (r.1556–1605). He was also a highly effective military leader but, for reasons that are obscure in the text of the Akbarnama, kept treasure that the Mughal forces had seized during a successful campaign in 1565. He tried to flee with his supporters across the Ganges, where Akbar’s forces, led by the general Shuja’at Khan, caught up with him. A fierce confrontation followed, depicted in this illustration, but Asaf Khan escaped. In 1567, he sent messengers to the court asking for forgiveness, which was granted.
By the Mughal court artists Tulsi the Elder and Jagjivan. V & A Museum.