The Hamzanama, or the history of Hamza, an illustrated manuscript of the sixteenth century represents the first famous work of the Mughal painting school, one of the most important painting schools of India and the Islamic world. The Hamzanama was inspired by one of the oldest and most popular heroic epics of Persia, was passed on orally over centuries in the Islamic world. The young Mughal emperor Akbar (ruled 1556-1605) commissioned this work as the first big project of his court atelier. The entertainment value of the adventures of Hamza seems to have given rise to both the size and format of this ambitious undertaking: Fourteen volumes with one hundred folios each, and a size of about 68,5 x 53,5 cm were painted on a dense cotton fabric. The exact date of the work is under debate, John Seyller dates it to 1557-1572. Pramod Chandra proposes a dating between 1562 and 1577.
Early volumes show the text in nasta`liq in combination with the illustrations whereas in later volumes the illustrations and text are separate. The folios point towards the development of an unique and independent style in the second phase of the school. Under the direction of the Persian artist Abdul-Samad, the successor of Mir Sayyid Ali, the Hamzanama paintings of this period show a synthesis of the Safavid painting school with that of Indian, Central Asian and European traditions. This seems to be consistent with Akbar´s syncretistic philosophy.
The sixty folios in the possession of the Museum of Applied Arts of Vienna represent the largest collection worldwide, out of a total of about 200 preserved folios. Because of the increasing interest in exotic art objects at the Fin de Siecle, the Viennese paintings were acquired at the Weltaustellung, the World’s Exposition of 1873 at Vienna. This unique and precious manuscript was purchased for its decorative value and its colours and also as a source of inspiration for Viennese handicrafts. From a present-day perspective, the Hamzanama represents a unique example of intense productivity and an independent picture language which expresses the Mughal dynasty´s new identity. In 2002 and 2003, a big exhibition was organised and curated by John Seyller, showing the Hamzanama in Washington and subsequently in New York, London and Zurich. In 2009 the sixty Viennese folios were shown at the Museum of Applied Art (MAK) at Vienna as part of the exhibition Global Lab: Art as a Message: Asia and Europe 1500-1700.

 

Based on German text by Irina Witoszynsky

Bibliography:

The Adventures of Hamza, Painting and Storytelling in Mughal India, Ausstellungskatalog, Arthur Sackler Gallery, Washington,  DC., 2002

Egger, Gerhart, Hamza-nama, Vollständige Wiedergabe der bekannten Blätter der Handschrift aus der Zeit Akbar des Grossen, Wien 1969.

Seyller, John, The Adventures of Hamza – Painting and storytelling in Mughal India, London 2002.

Schäning, Anke, Ein Beitrag zur Untersuchung von Maltechnik und Objektgeschichte der Indo-Persischen Miniaturen des Hamza-nama Manuskripts, Dipl.-Arb. Akademie der bildenden Künste, Wien 1999.

Chandra, Pramod und Ehnbom, Daniel J., The Cleveland Tuti-nama Manuscript and the Origins of Mughal Painting, Chicago 1976