A Fight in the Bazaar

Folio from the Manuscript of Kulliyat (Collected Works) of Sa`di (d. 1292)

• Accession Number:AKM284.2
• Place:India, Agra
• Dimensions:41.8 x 26.2 cm
• Date:ca. 1604
• Materials and Technique:opaque watercolour, ink, and gold on paper

• The “Three Accounts” were not written by the poet himself, but are rather another author’s descriptions of Sa`di’s interactions with Abaqa Khan (ruler of the Ilkhanid dynasty, in control of Iran during the latter part of Sa`di’s life), Amir Ankyanu (the Ilkhanid governor of Fars) and Shams al-Din Tazikuy (minister of Abaqa Khan and disciple of Sa`di). This painting, marked as page 38 in the manuscript, falls in the section relating to Shams al-Din Tazikuy. Here, a fruit seller is pulled into a fight by one of his customers. The scene is set in an open space in front of shops housed beneath a whitewashed arcade near the city gate.

   

  See AKM284 for an introduction to the Kulliyat (Collected Works) of Sa'di, and other paintings from this manuscript.

   

  — Marika Sardar