Oil on canvas. 203x415 cm. Iran. Qajar Dynasty. Circa 1815/1816. A multifigure composition spreads across this huge canvas, depicting a real event which took place in the Ujan valley in July 1813: the heir to the Iranian throne, Abbas Mirza, showing his father, Fath Ali Shah, the regular army, newly reorganized along European lines by English and French instructors. In the upper half of the painting, left of centre, is a rider in red, Fath Ali Shah himself, and at his horse's feet a figure in pink prostrating up on the ground - Abbas Mirza. The ruler of Azerbaijan, the most important and the richest province in Iran, Crown Prince Abbas Mirza makes the lowest possible bow, of the kind made even to the ruling shah only on special occasions. The Shah and his numerous suite are preparing to pass between the ranks of soldiers wearing uniforms of European type. By the right edge of the painting are musicians on camels, and to the left - riders leading horses in rich trappings. Further left are eight noble youths wearing head-dresses with feathers, arranged in two rows: these are the fast runners who always accompanied the ruler when he left the palace to clear the way before him. At the very top right are the Ulema (theologians and tutors in law) in turbans and long robes with a group of people performing a ritual sacrifice of rams. The painting formed part of the decoration of the Ujan castle of Abbas Mirza, from where in 1828 it was removed by the Russians as a war trophy and brought to the Winter Palace in St Petersburg.
Crown Prince Abbas Mirza took the lead in creating a modernized army for the Qajar state. In this painting, which may be of the battle at Sultanabad on 13 February 1812, he can he seen at the left with a pile of Russian heads in front of him. On this occasion the Qajars won; in the later war of 1826-28 they lost badly. Depicted on this huge canvas is the defeat of the Russian Trinity Infantry Regiment in the battle near Sultanabad, which took place on 13 February 1812. In the left half of the painting, at the head of the Persian troops, riding a bay horse and wearing a blue robe is Crown Prince Abbas Mirza, son of the reigning Fath Ali Shah. With his right hand he points at the severed heads of the enemy. The defeat itself is shown in the right part of the canvas, where the battle takes place in the Russian camp - note the two-headed eagle of the Russian Empire on the banners. The camp is surrounded by groups of Persian soldiers wearing European uniforms and bearing Persian banners, on which a lion holds a sabre in its paw against a background of the rising sun. Mounted on a horse in the centre of the painting is an English officer, one of those responsible for the reorganization of the Persian army along European lines. A relatively minor victory over a single Russian regiment is given here the significance of a major historical event. The painting formed part of the decoration of the Ujan castle of Abbas Mirza, from where in 1828 it was removed by the Russians as a war trophy and brought to the Winter Palace in St Petersburg.
A Persian musketeer (tofangčī) in the time of Shah ʿAbbās I. Painting by Ḥabīb-Allāh Mašhadī circa 1600 AD. Berlin Museum of Islamic Art.
Oil on canvas. 203x415 cm. Iran. Qajar Dynasty. Circa 1815/1816. A multifigure composition spreads across this huge canvas, depicting a real event which took place in the Ujan valley in July 1813: the heir to the Iranian throne, Abbas Mirza, showing his father, Fath Ali Shah, the regular army, newly reorganized along European lines by English and French instructors. In the upper half of the painting, left of centre, is a rider in red, Fath Ali Shah himself, and at his horse's feet a figure in pink prostrating up on the ground - Abbas Mirza. The ruler of Azerbaijan, the most important and the richest province in Iran, Crown Prince Abbas Mirza makes the lowest possible bow, of the kind made even to the ruling shah only on special occasions. The Shah and his numerous suite are preparing to pass between the ranks of soldiers wearing uniforms of European type. By the right edge of the painting are musicians on camels, and to the left - riders leading horses in rich trappings. Further left are eight noble youths wearing head-dresses with feathers, arranged in two rows: these are the fast runners who always accompanied the ruler when he left the palace to clear the way before him. At the very top right are the Ulema (theologians and tutors in law) in turbans and long robes with a group of people performing a ritual sacrifice of rams. The painting formed part of the decoration of the Ujan castle of Abbas Mirza, from where in 1828 it was removed by the Russians as a war trophy and brought to the Winter Palace in St Petersburg.
Crown Prince Abbas Mirza took the lead in creating a modernized army for the Qajar state. In this painting, which may be of the battle at Sultanabad on 13 February 1812, he can he seen at the left with a pile of Russian heads in front of him. On this occasion the Qajars won; in the later war of 1826-28 they lost badly. Depicted on this huge canvas is the defeat of the Russian Trinity Infantry Regiment in the battle near Sultanabad, which took place on 13 February 1812. In the left half of the painting, at the head of the Persian troops, riding a bay horse and wearing a blue robe is Crown Prince Abbas Mirza, son of the reigning Fath Ali Shah. With his right hand he points at the severed heads of the enemy. The defeat itself is shown in the right part of the canvas, where the battle takes place in the Russian camp - note the two-headed eagle of the Russian Empire on the banners. The camp is surrounded by groups of Persian soldiers wearing European uniforms and bearing Persian banners, on which a lion holds a sabre in its paw against a background of the rising sun. Mounted on a horse in the centre of the painting is an English officer, one of those responsible for the reorganization of the Persian army along European lines. A relatively minor victory over a single Russian regiment is given here the significance of a major historical event. The painting formed part of the decoration of the Ujan castle of Abbas Mirza, from where in 1828 it was removed by the Russians as a war trophy and brought to the Winter Palace in St Petersburg.
