Farrukh Beg

Farrukh had produced miniature paintings under the patronage of five known rulers in West Asia and South Asia: Ibrahim Mirza of Safavid Mashhad, Mirza Muhammad Hakim of Kabul, Akbar in Mughal India and later his son Jahangir, and Ibrahim Adil Shah II of the Sultanate of Bijapur. His distinct style came to be revered by his contemporaries and patrons, due to a distinct homogeneity, evolving as a result of his Persian training and experiences in cosmopolitan Mughal courts. His life was later mired in mystery due to his sudden hiatus from the Mughal court sometime after 1595, rejoining the Mughal atelier around 1609. Evidence has shown he spent a bulk of this time in Bijapur under the patronage of Ibrahim Adil Shah II of the Sultanate of Bijapur.

• Name — Farrukh Beg • Native Name — فرخ بیگ • Born — c. 1547 • Birthplace — Safavid Iran • Died — After 1615 • Place of death — Mughal Empire • Education — Khorasan • Notable Works — See • Style — Persian Mughal

Farrukh Beg was born in modern-day Iran, around 1547. He belonged to the Kalmaq (Kalmyk) tribe, according to Akbar's vizier Abu'l Fazl, while some sources contest that he originated from the Qashqa’i tribe. He received his training in Khurasan (located in modern-day northwest Iran). The earliest mention of Farrukh appears in a historical record by Iskander Beg Munshi, a court historian under Shah Abbas I, about the close companionship between Farrukh Beg and his brother Siyavush and Hamza Mirza, son of the reigning Safavid ruler, Shah Muhammad Khodabanda. While working at the atelier of Ibrahim Mirza, the governor of Mashhad, Farrukh Beg illustrated a manuscript of Haft Awrang (Seven Thrones). Farrukh illustrated all but one painting in the manuscript, allowing him to form a homogenous iconographic style as reflected in the artwork. Farrukh Beg's early tutelage is indirectly attributed to Mirza Ali and Shaykh Muhammad, two prolific painters who belonged to the atelier of Ibrahim Mirza in Mashhad. However, no direct link has been established between the latter painters and Farrukh. While the exact date of Farrukh's departure for Kabul is not recorded, his tenure under Mirza Muhammad Hakim, half-brother of Mughal Emperor Akbar, has been well documented. While the extent of Farrukh's work for Muhammad Hakim is difficult to gauge due to a lack of illustrations available, two tinted illustrations made under Hakim bear Farrukh's signature, housed in the Gulistan Palace Library in Tehran, Iran. In 1585 at the age of 40, after the death of Mirza Muhammad Hakim, he took his skills to the court of Mughal Emperor Akbar in Mughal India, either in Rawalpindi or Lahore, where he received his title Beg.

• Illustration — Akbar's Triumphal Entry into Surat, Akbarnama, 1590–95, Victoria and Albert Museum, London Farrukh Beg's arrival at Mughal court is documented by Abu'l Fazl in the administrative record, Ain-i-Akbari. Abu'l Fazl states "Farrukh Beg Musavvir and others received suitable robes and horses, and trays of muhrs and rupis. Various favors were conferred upon them." Farrukh's first illustration in Akbar's atelier was the Khamsa of Nizami, a Persian manuscript in which Farrukh embellished seven out of thirty-six illustrations. The composition and stylistic techniques of the Khamsa illustrations draw heavily from his previous work, Haft Awrang, under Safavid patronage. He worked on the Baburnama and the Akbarnama, both commissioned by Akbar as historical documentation of Babur and Akbar's reign. In the Akbarnama, some of Farrukh Beg's works include Akbar's Triumphal Entry into Surat and Mir Mu’izz al-Mulk and Afghan rebel Bahadur Khan meet in 1567. Farrukh's work in the Baburnama includes the illustration titled Babur Entertains in Sultan Imrahim Lodi’s Palace. Working in the Mughal atelier, Farrukh was often singled out as one of the most exceptional manuscript painters of his time, along with the other renowned Mughal painters like Daswant and La’l. Farrukh Beg's celebrated status at Akbar's court is seen through frequent mentions as "nadir al-asr" (Wonder of the age) in Baburnama and Akbarnama, conferred as part of the reward system instituted by Mughal rulers to exalt artists' workmanship.

• Illustration — Ibrahim Adil Shah plays the Lute In around 1590, Farrukh Beg took a brief leave from the Mughal court of Akbar. In 1957, scholar Robert Skelton proposed that Farrukh spent his sojourn in the Sultanate of Bijapur under the patronage of Ibrahim Adil Shah II, a theory contested by scholars until evidence unearthed by John Seyller and Ellen Smart confirmed the hypothesis. A signature by Farrukh was ascertained on a Deccan illustration of Ibrahim Adil II Hawking (1598), inscribed "it is the work of Farrukh Beg" (aml-i Farrukh Beg ast). The signature helped identify more paintings completed by the hand of Farrukh in Bijapur, based on starkly similar stylistic choices and compositional renderings. Many illustrations at the Deccan court bear the name "Farrukh Husayn", and Skelton had posited, to later scholarly acceptance, that this signature was from the same Farrukh. Other paintings by Farrukh during this period include Ibrahim Adil Shah plays the Lute (1600), Ibrahim Rides the Elephant Atish Khan, Bull Elephant (1600–1604) and Horse and Groom (1604). • Illustration — Elegant Page Boy. Chester Beatty Library Around 1609, Farrukh returned to the Mughal Court, now under the rule of Emperor Jahangir. His return is dated by a mention in Jahangir's memoirs, which report Jahangir bestowing 2,000 rupees on the "unrivaled" Farrukh Beg. Under the auspices of Jahangir, Farrukh worked on the Gulshan Muraqqa, an album of illustrations assembled by Jahangir, as well as the Minto Album. He also painted several folios, now separated from their original work and dispersed among collections around the world. The latest mention of Farrukh occurs in Iqbalnama-i Jahangiri, penned by Mutamad Khan, celebrating Farrukh's artistic ingenuity and creativity by referring to him as "who has no rival or equal in the space of the universe."