Timurid Soldiers from Muhammad Juki's Shahnamah - early 1440s

It has been one thousand years since the completion of the Shahnamah (the Book of Kings), the poem that is Persia's national epic. This narrative recounts the reigns of Persian kings and the deeds of their champions from the legendary accounts of the beginnings of civilization until the Arab Muslim conquest and the end of Persian rule in the seventh century. Although it is not known when the epic was first illustrated, countless copies of this poem have been made throughout the ages. The manuscript on view was produced in the early 1440s for the prince Muhammad Juki (1402-1445). A classically beautiful work, the Juki Shahnamah boasts sumptuous colors, striking compositions, and elegant calligraphy. It is the finest surviving Persian illustrated manuscript of its day.

The Shahnamah is nearly 60,000 couplets and was written by the Persian poet known as Firdausi (ca. 935-1026). The long central section of the story is concerned with Iran's struggles against the neighboring kingdom of Turan and the feats performed by Rustam, a larger-than-life hero with fantastic strength. The historical section begins with Alexander the Great, although he too is treated as legend, and ends with the Sasanian ruler Yazdagird III (632-652).

Iran and much of Central Asia were ruled by the Timurid empire from the second half of the fourteenth century until 1506. The dynasty's founder, Timur, was of Turco-Mongol origin but his descendants nonetheless adopted the Persian national epic as their own. Muhammad Juki was a grandson of Timur and a son of Shah Rukh (1377-1447). Scholars believe he had this Shahnamah made for him in the city of Herat in what is today Afghanistan. When Babur, a later descendant of the Timurids, founded the Mughal dynasty in Northern India in 1526, the manuscript was taken there, where it remained until the eighteenth century.

Portrait Of The Infant Rustam Shown To Sam
Rustam kills Ashkabus and his horse
The Fortress Of Gang Dizh Attacked With Mines
Gushtasp Slays The Dragon
Bahram Gur Hunting With Azadah
Talhand Dies During The Battle Against His Brother Gav
Rustam slays the White Div
Arjasp defeats Gushtasp