An illustration from the Razmnama: Yudhishthira and His Brothers ask Bhishma for His Permission to Fight, by Yusuf 'Ali, Mughal, India, 1616-1617

Gouache heightened with gold on paper, depicting a ruler enthroned beneath a canopy and surrounded by courtiers, attendants and musicians, the reverse with a text panel of 20 lines in naskhi script and a miniature (11.3 by 20.2cm) of Yudhisthira departing for a battle riding an elephant

In generally good condition, small panel in top right-hand corner and areas of top, bottom and right narrow gold border skillfully restored, small horizontal tear to the top centre-left, as viewed.
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This dispersed manuscript of the Razmnama is one of the three major illustrated reproductions of the Razmnama of this period, the other two being a dispersed copy of 1598 and a version dating from 1605. This 1616 copy was commissioned by 'Abd al-Rahim, a great bibliophile and khan-i-khanan, 'commander-in-chief', of the Mughal armies to which he was appointed in 1584.

The subject of the present illustration depicts Yudhishthira and his brothers asking Bhishma for permission to fight. Krishna stands between the crowned Yudhishthira and the enthroned Bhishma. It is painted in the sub-imperial Mughal style with strong Hindu influences and was created by the artist Yusuf 'Ali who produced eleven paintings in the Freer Ramayana of 1597-1605 and executed at least one other painting in the present manuscript (see J. Seyller, Workshop and Patron: The Illustrated Manuscripts of 'Abd al-Rahim, Artibus Asiae, 1999). The figures of Yusuf 'Ali bear a strong resemblance to those of Fazl, the best-known painter in 'Abd al-Rahim's employ, but have softer lines and more finely drawn eyes.

This painting is published in A. Okada, Une page du Razm-nama de 1616, La Revue du Louvre et des Musees de France, 1984, p. 271, fig. 3, and in J. Seyller, Model and Copy: The Illustration of Three Razmnama Manuscripts, Archives of Asian Art, xxxviii (1985) p. 62, fig. 4.