A STANDING PORTRAIT OF SEYYED LASHKAR KHAN BAKHSHI UL-MULK
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE AMERICAN COLLECTION
Mughal India, ca. 1680 - 1700

Opaque pigments heightened with gold on wove paper, the vertical composition depicting a typical Mughal standing portrait of Lashkar Khan, the Kiladar of Golconda and Bijapur, and military commander under Aurangzeb's reign, the nobleman portrayed in a profile stand, wearing a gold-embroidered pale yellow robe, bright red boots, and an orange turban, holding in his left hand a golden pouch, possibly containing a gift, pasted onto an album page with concentric illuminated decorative borders with floral and vegetal meanders, the reverse with an inscription in black ink nasta'liq script at the top identifying the sitter, a typed inventory and cataloguing label, and two impressions in black ink of ownership seals, 36cm x 24cm.

Provenance: Private Swiss Collection;

Koller Auctions, Switzerland, 7 June 2018, lot 446.

Seyyed Lashkar Khan was the son of Seyyed Khan Jahan Shahjahani, known as Qalandar Khan. Lashkar Khan is remembered as an able military commander and administrator, who rendered good services for the cause of the Mughals in the Deccan under Aurangzeb's reign. Among his military and diplomatic achievements, one can count the appointment to Royal Belongings Guard at Sholapur in 1685; several battles against the Marathas; the service of Kiladar of Golconda and Bijapur, a title used for the governors of prominent forts or large towns in India; and the appointment to Thanedar guarding Prince Muhammad Kam Bakhsh’s camp in 1692 - 93.