Shah-Jahan Receiving the Persian Ambassador

Shah Jahan receives the Persian ambassador in a durbar at his Agra palace. The scene fills the page: dozens of nobles arranged in strict hierarchy around the emperor, who sits on a jewelled throne. Every one of the 40+ courtiers is a specific individual — Mughal painters worked from portrait studies (called shabih) kept on file, so each face is a real man of Shah Jahan's court, identifiable by name. It is an official court roster in painted form. Payag was Shah Jahan's favourite artist for these events. The book that contains this folio, the Padshahnama, is one of the most extraordinary manuscripts of the seventeenth century. Now at Chester Beatty Library, Dublin @chester_beatty_dublin