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Primary sourceBookc. 1584-1586

Razmnama

c. 1584-1586

A Persian translation of the Hindu epic Mahabharata, ordered by Akbar and illustrated by his court painters.

Akbar personally ordered and oversaw this translation project, reflecting his policy of religious and cultural exchange.

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A painted miniature folio showing a royal couple seated in an open pavilion with a patterned wall and a central door. Attendants stand nearby, one holding a tray, and figures peer from a lower courtyard and a doorway.
A royal couple in a pavilion with attendants, from a Razmnama manuscript, c. 1595. Private collection.

About this source

What it is

The Razmnama is a Persian translation of the Sanskrit epic Mahabharata, commissioned by Akbar through the translation bureau he set up at Fatehpur Sikri. Hindu scholars explained the text, Muslim theologian Naqib Khan and poet Faizi rendered it into Persian, and the finished work, completed in the 1580s, was illustrated with many paintings, including this folio showing a royal couple in a pavilion with attendants.

Why it matters

The project shows Akbar's effort to bridge Hindu and Muslim traditions at his court, letting his Muslim nobles understand a central Hindu text. It involved Brahmin scholars, Muslim translators and court artists such as Basawan, Daswanth and Lal, showing how Akbar's court brought different communities together in shared cultural work.

Look closer

  • Why might an emperor want a Hindu epic translated for his court?
  • What does the involvement of both Hindu scholars and Muslim translators tell us about Akbar's approach to religion?
  • What might be lost or changed when a story is translated from Sanskrit into Persian and illustrated by different artists?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Akbar the Great on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Illuminated opening page of a manuscript in Persian script. At top is an ornate gold and blue illuminated frontispiece with floral arabesques, a central cartouche and arched panels. Below are three columns of black calligraphy on cream paper, framed by gold and red borders.Book

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Akbarnama

Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak · c. 1590

Two-page manuscript spread with dense Persian script in black ink on the left and right pages. The right page has a ruled grid board with red and blue lines, a central multicolored rosette, and sets of colored pawn shapes in four corners, illustrating a Chaupar game.Book

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Ain-i-Akbari

Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak · 1589-1596

Painted Mughal miniature showing Akbar's elephant Hawai in a riverside scene: elephants and men on a sandy bank, boatmen in wooden boats struggling in choppy water, figures at a red fort wall above, and Persian inscriptions at the bottom.Artifact

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Victoria and Albert Akbarnama

c. 1590-1595

Red sandstone palace courtyard at Fatehpur Sikri with multi-storey colonnaded pavilions, carved jali screen railings, and a green-tinted water pool in the foreground under a clear sky with trees.Artifact

Primary source

Fatehpur Sikri

founded 1571

Front view of the Buland Darwaza, a tall red sandstone gateway with white domed pavilions on its roof, a large central arched portal, and a wide flight of steps leading up to it. Several people stand on the steps and a small white goat is at lower left.Artifact

Primary source

Buland Darwaza

begun 1573

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