Akbar Restraining the Enraged Elephant Hawa'i

Emperor Akbar had a passion for taming wild elephants. In 1561, at Agra, he mounted the enraged elephant Hawa'i and drove it across the Yamuna river on a pontoon bridge to attack another elephant. The bridge partly collapsed under the weight; observers thought Akbar would die. He didn't. Basawan and Chetar painted the moment for the Akbarnama, the illustrated chronicle of the emperor's reign. The pontoon boats tilt; men fall into the river; the elephants roar. Akbar sits calmly on top. He was 19. He would live to 63. Now at Victoria and Albert Museum, London @vamuseum