Ardashir Enthroned (painting, verso; text, recto), folio from a manuscript of Hafiz-i Abru's Majma' al-Tawarikh (The Assembly of Histories)

Written by the court historian Hafiz-i Abru at the request of the Timurid ruler Shah Rukh (r. 1405–47), Majma' al-Tawarikh (The Assembly of Histories) is essentially a history book modeled after the early 14th-century Ilkhanid Jami' al-Tawarikh, which covers the history from Adam up to the Ilkhanid rule. Hafiz-i Abru’s version extended the Timurid rule through Shah Rukh's reign. The manuscript, to which this folio and related folios belong, was originally composed of 407 large folios containing 150 paintings. It remained intact until at least 1928. Now, it has been dispersed to various collections. It had a leather binding, and its paintings were created in three different styles. All of them follow the horizontal format of the Ilkhanid Jami al-Tawarikh paintings but incorporate some Timurid details in style and iconography, such as clothing. This section belongs to the history of the Persian Sasanid king Ardashir.