The Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb at the siege of Golconda Fort, 1687, circa 1720, opaque...

The Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb at the siege of Golconda Fort, 1687, circa 1720, opaque pigments heightened with gilt on paper, 36.3 x 27cm.

Provenance: Private Collection UK; acquired privately in the early 1990s

After the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb and the Mughal army had conquered two Muslim kingdoms: Nizamshahis of Ahmednagar and the Adilshahis of Bijapur; the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb assembled the most advanced Mughal army to date and began his siege on Golconda Fort. Aurangzeb had assigned Mir Jumla and his army of 10,000 to lead any future assault on Golconda Fort. The siege lasted 8 months, from January 1687 to September 22, 1687.

Ghaziuddin Khan Siddiqi Firuz Jang son of Khwaja Abid Siddiqi Kilich Khan and Father of Nizam I of Hyderabad Qamaruddin Khan Siddiqi was assigned to bombard the walls of the fort using almost 100 cannons.

Although the Qutbshahi's maintained impregnable efforts defending their walls, at night the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb and his infantry of assembled and erected complex scaffolding that allowed them to scale the high walls. Aurangzeb also ordered his men to throw grenades while scaling the fortified wall and were reinforced by matchlocks and composite bows. While most of these attacks remained largely unsuccessful, they managed to demoralize the defenders of Golconda Fort.

The scene of Aurangzeb overseeing the assault was painted at various times after the siege itself. The closest comparison to our painting is datable to the 17th century and is in the Bibliotheque nationale de France, contained in an album of 52 Mughal paintings entitled, " Batailles et sujets historiques de l'Inde et de Perse," département des Estampes et de la Photographie,(OD-44-FOL, f. 41.).

Further paintings of this scene include a version dated to 1760 "Emperor Aurangzebe at the siege of Golconda, 1687", in the Prints, Drawings and Watercolors from the Anne S.K. Brown Military Collection, 32 x 23cm.

For a 19th century version of this scene see Christie's, Arts & Textiles of the Islamic Worlds, 22 April 2016, Lot 507