Rustam Takes Prisoner the Khan of China, from the Shahnama of Firdausi
Iranian
Description
In their ongoing battle with the Iranians, the Turanians sought help from many allies, including the rulers of Hind (the Indus River Valley region; modern Pakistan) and Chin (“China”; apparently a reference to Turkic tribes of Central Asia who lived along the trade route with China proper). In this episode, the Khan of Chin has just witnessed Rustam’s prowess on the battlefield and attempted to sue for peace, on the grounds that the people of Chin are blameless in the original cause of the war—the murder of Siyawush. Rustam will have none of this last-minute excuse making, saying,
“Ye set your faces to lay waste Iran
What need is there for talk and blandishments?”
… Rustam … spurred on [his horse] Rakhsh and cried:
“I vanquish lions and apportion crowns,
Am strong, and have a lasso on mine arm. …
Whenas the Khan of Chin shall see my lasso,
When that fierce Lion shall behold mine armlet,
He will be taken and distaste e’en life.”
He flung the lasso coiled and took the heads
Of cavaliers, neared that white elephant,
And then the Khan of Chin, grown desperate,
Smote with the goad the creature’s head and, roaring
Like thunder …
Took and hurled forth at Rustam deft of hand
A double-headed battle dart, in hope
To worst him and to take his noble head;
But Rustam, scathless, flung his lasso high,
Dragged from his elephant the Khan of Chin
Noosed by the neck, and dashed him to the ground.
Warner, III, 229–30
The artist of this page has chosen to show the very moment when Rustam ensnares the Khan (shown here dressed in a red tunic over his armor and wearing a crown) with his lasso and pulls him down from his elephant. Although Firdausi sets the scene as a crowded battlefield, the painter has drawn both armies aside, like curtains, to allow Rustam and his horse to emerge as the dominant element of the composition.
———
Maribeth Graybill, Senior Curator of Asian Art
Exhibited in "A Medieval Masterpiece from Baghdad: the Ann Arbor Shahnama"
August 14 through December 19, 2004
Subject Matter:
Rustam Takes Prisoner the Khan of China
When Rustam heard he spurred on Rakhsh and cried:--
"I vanquish lions and apportion crowns,
Am strong, and have a lasso on mine arm.
Whenas the Khan of Chin shall see my lasso,
When that fierce Lion shall behold mine armlet,
He will be taken and distaste e'en life."
He flung the lasso coiled and took the heads
Of cavaliers, neared that white elephant,
And then the Khan of Chin, grown desperate,
Smote with the goad the creature's head and, roaring...
...Took and hurled forth at Rustam deft of hand
A double-headed battle-dart in hope
To worst him and to take his noble head;
But Rustam, scathless, flung his lasso high,
Dragged from his elephant the Khan of Chin
Noosed by the neck, and dashed him to the ground...
Physical Description:
This Persian miniature is attributed to the Shiraz and Timurid schools, ca. 1460. The painting is done in ink, opaque watercolor and gold leaf on paper. The scene, Rustam Takes Prisoner the Khan of China, is part of the Shahnama of Firdausi, the Persian book of kings.
Usage Rights:
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