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"Dancing Dervishes", Folio from the Shah Jahan Album

Calligrapher Mir 'Ali Haravi
recto: ca. 1610; verso: ca. 1530–50
Not on view
Ecstatic dervishes in this painting perform the sama, or mystical whirling dance. Although this dance was practiced as a means of achieving mystical states from very early times in the Islamic world, it was institutionalized at the end of the thirteenth century by Sultan Walad, son of the great mystical poet Jalaluddin Rumi, who died at Konya (present-day Turkey) in 1273.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: "Dancing Dervishes", Folio from the Shah Jahan Album
  • Calligrapher: Mir 'Ali Haravi (died ca. 1550)
  • Date: recto: ca. 1610; verso: ca. 1530–50
  • Geography: Attributed to India
  • Medium: Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper
  • Dimensions: H. 15 3/16 in. (38.6 cm)
    W. 10 3/16 in. (25.9 cm)
  • Classification: Codices
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Rogers Fund and The Kevorkian Foundation Gift, 1955
  • Object Number: 55.121.10.18
  • Curatorial Department: Islamic Art

More Artwork

More Artwork
'Unwan from the Shah Jahan Album, Mir 'Ali Haravi, Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper
'Unwan from the Shah Jahan Album
Calligrapher Mir 'Ali Haravi
recto: ca. 1630–40; verso: ca. 1540
"Akbar With Lion and Calf", Folio from the Shah Jahan Album, Govardhan, Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper
"Akbar With Lion and Calf", Folio from the Shah Jahan Album
Painting by Govardhan
Calligrapher Mir 'Ali Haravi
verso: ca. 1630; recto: ca. 1530–50
Rosette Bearing the Name and Title of Emperor Aurangzeb (Recto), from the Shah Jahan Album, Mir 'Ali Haravi, Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper
Rosette Bearing the Name and Title of Emperor Aurangzeb (Recto), from the Shah Jahan Album
Calligrapher Mir 'Ali Haravi
recto: ca. 1658; verso: ca. 1630–40
"Shah Jahan on a Terrace, Holding a Pendant Set With His Portrait", Folio from the Shah Jahan Album, Chitarman Indian, Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper
"Shah Jahan on a Terrace, Holding a Pendant Set With His Portrait", Folio from the Shah Jahan Album
Painted by Chitarman
recto: dated 1627–28; verso: ca. 1530–50
"Unwan", Folio from the Shah Jahan Album, Mir 'Ali Haravi, Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper
"Unwan", Folio from the Shah Jahan Album
Calligrapher Mir 'Ali Haravi
recto and verso: ca. 1630–40

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