# Jahangir Entertains Shah Abbas by Attributed to Bishandas; Abu'l Hasan proposed in published scholarship (About 1620; borders dated 1746–1747)

Canonical article: https://www.artifact-archive.com/archive/jahangir-welcoming-shah-abbas

- **Painting:** Jahangir Entertains Shah Abbas
- **Artist:** Attributed to Bishandas; Abu'l Hasan proposed in published scholarship
- **Date:** About 1620; borders dated 1746–1747
- **Medium:** Opaque watercolour, gold and ink on paper
- **Dimensions:** 25 × 18.3 cm, as catalogued by the Smithsonian
- **Current location:** Freer Gallery of Art, National Museum of Asian Art, Washington, DC; F1942.16a
- **Period:** Mughal dynasty, reign of Jahangir
- **Culture:** Mughal India; later album decoration in Iran

Two rival rulers sit together in a setting of jewels, vessels, flowers and winged figures. The meeting is imaginary: Jahangir and Shah Abbas never met. A tiny European mechanical sculpture adds another layer to the spectacle. The painting makes hospitality a claim to power, while its later Iranian borders and dispersed album history reveal a journey far beyond the Mughal court.

## The story

A Mughal allegory of an imagined reception, subsequently incorporated into the St. Petersburg Album. The Smithsonian identifies the work as F1942.16a and currently attributes it to Bishandas; published scholarship also names Abu'l Hasan.

## Sources

- [s1] [Jahangir entertains Shah Abbas, from the St. Petersburg Album, F1942.16a](https://collections.si.edu/search/detail/edanmdm%3Afsg_F1942.16a), Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art (museum)
- [s2] [Exact Commons image record: Jahangir Welcoming Shah Abbas](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:12_Abu%27l_Hasan_Jahangir_Welcoming_Shah_%27Abbas,_ca._1618,_Freer_Gallery_of_Art,_Washington_DC.jpg), Wikimedia Commons (image-record)
- [s3] [Jessica Keating, Metamorphosis at the Mughal Court, 2015, published extract](https://academic.oup.com/arthistory/article-abstract/38/4/732/7278263), Art History, Oxford Academic (academic)
- [s4] [Joachim Friess, Diana and the Stag, about 1620, 17.190.746](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/193623), The Metropolitan Museum of Art (museum)
- [s5] [Murad Khan Mumtaz, Faces of God, 2023, p. 153](https://brill.com/display/book/9789004549449/9789004549449_webready_content_text.pdf), Brill (academic)
- [s6] [The St. Petersburg Muraqqa: Album of Indian and Persian Miniatures, catalogue discussion of Jahangir and Shah Abbas](https://www.orientalstudies.ru/eng/images/pdf/st.petersburg_muraqqa_1996.pdf), Institute of Oriental Manuscripts, Russian Academy of Sciences (academic)
- [s7] [Comparison only: Emperor Jahangir embraces Shah Abbas, F1945.9a](https://www.si.edu/object/emperor-jahangir-embraces-shah-abbas%3Afsg_F1945.9a), Smithsonian Institution (museum)
- [s8] [St. Petersburg Muraqqa, E-14: Album history and related dispersed leaves](https://www.orientalstudies.ru/rus/collections/arabica/arabic_collection_muraqqa.htm), Institute of Oriental Manuscripts, Russian Academy of Sciences (archive)
- [s9] [Jahangir and Shahjahan: Policies and their Achievements, North West Frontier Policy](https://ebooks.inflibnet.ac.in/icp01/chapter/jahangir-shahjahan-policies-and-their-achievements/), INFLIBNET educational textbook platform (academic)

Editorial review date: 2026-10-01.

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