The Battle of Samugarh

The culminating moments of a battle that occurred on a scorching June afternoon in 1658 on the plains of Samugarh, near Agra is documented in this remarkable tinted drawing. In a dramatic struggle for the Mughal throne, Prince Dara Shikoh, Shah Jahan’s heir apparent, and his troops faced those of his younger brother, Aurangzeb. Due in part to his inexperience in battle, his unprepared troops, an element of treachery, or perhaps a cruel twist of fate, Dara suffered a crushing defeat. This drawing has been attributed to the Mughal artist Payag, a master of historical narrative painting. Payag’s topographic battle scenes contain lively and often gruesome martial swirls in the fore- and middle-ground, and tiny vignettes in the distance are peopled by armies with their horses and elephants. Here, the artist has conflated a succession of events in which participants are identified by tiny inscriptions in Persian. The central focus depicts Dara stepping down from his elephant to mount a horse, a signal his troops tragically misread as surrender. Framing this are earlier episodes: the removal of the slain general loyal to Dara from his horse; and an attempt to capture Dara's brother and Aurangzeb's ally, Murad Bakhsh, who flees on his elephant.