TWO ILLUSTRATED LOOSE FOLIOS FROM A TRANSLATED RAMAYANA MANUSCRIPT
PROPERTY FROM A CANADIAN COLLECTION
Possibly Jammu, Kashmir or Lahore, Northern India, 19th century

Opaque pigments, red and black ink heightened with gold on lined paper, each folio with a large-sized illustration of a scene from the well-known story of the Hindu God Rama, narrated in the epic Ramayana, one folio depicting the death of King Sugriva's evil brother, Vali, the usurper who banished Sugriva, the rightful king of the Monkeys, and sent several vanaras (monkey or ape-like humanoids, often depicted as a race of forest-dwelling people) to kill him, Rama still holding his bow in the left hand, the arrow stuck in the middle of Vali's chest, Lakshmana on Rama's side, and three monkeys behind them; the latter folio with vanaras in conversation, surrounded by trees and flowers, in a continuous narrative sequence, each illustration encased within a varying number of lines (8 - 12) of black and red ink Persian nasta'liq script, the reverse with more lines of text, the text panel set within concentric yellow and black rules.

Each text panel 24.5cm x 13.5cm, each folio 34.5cm x 22cm

Though unusual, it is not implausible to see folios of the Ramayana accompanied by Persian text, instead of the traditional Indian nagari of Sanskrit or Sloka / Braj Bhasha. Indeed, the Hindu epic telling the story of Rama, the rightful heir to the throne of Ayodhya, was translated into Persian during the Mughal period, notably under Emperor Akbar, by Abdul Qadir Badayuni. The original translation, completed in 1589, aimed to make the story accessible to the Persian-speaking population within the Mughal Empire and it was elaborately illustrated by leading painters in Akbar's court. This set the precedent for 19th-century version of the story produced in the northern regions such as Kashmir, Lucknow and Lahore.