The text of the Shahnama has its own version of how the game of chess was introduced into Iran from India. In order to avoid paying tribute to the Sasanians, the Rajah of Hind (India) sent an envoy challenging the Iranian ruler to figure out how this game was played. The clever vizier Buzurjmihr secured the tribute for his king by solving the problem. The Iranians are dressed in Mongol costume, whereas the erudite vizier wears Arab-style tunic and turban. The Indian envoy, all alone among the Iranians as if underscoring his defeat at the game, is represented as a dark-skinned man wearing baggy clothes and a loose turban.
This artwork is meant to be viewed from right to left. Scroll left to view more.
Artwork Details
Use your arrow keys to navigate the tabs below, and your tab key to choose an item
Title:"Buzurgmihr Masters the Game of Chess", Folio from the First Small Shahnama (Book of Kings)
Author:Abu'l Qasim Firdausi (Iranian, Paj ca. 940/41–1020 Tus)
Date:ca. 1300–30
Geography:Made in Iran or Iraq
Medium:Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper
Dimensions:Painting: H. 1 15/16 in. (4.9 cm) W. 4 13/16 in. (12.2 cm) Page: H. 6 3/8 in. (16.2 cm) W. 5 1/4 in. (13.3 cm) Mat: H. 19 1/4 in. (48.9 cm) W. 14 1/4 in. (36.2 cm)
Classification:Codices
Credit Line:Purchase, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, 1934
Accession Number:34.24.1
Buzurgmihr Masters the Game of Chess
The Shahnama has its own version of how the game of chess was introduced into Iran from India. In order to avoid paying tribute to the Sasanians, the rajah of Hind sent an envoy challenging the Iranian ruler Nushirvan to figure out how this war game was played. Buzurjmihr, the clever vizier, gained the tribute for his king by solving the problem.
The Iranians in attendance on Nushirvan are dressed in Mongol costumes, whereas the vizier is given an "erudite" status by his Arab-style tunic and turban. The Indian envoy, all alone among the Iranians as if underscoring his defeat at the game, is typically represented as a dark-skinned man wearing baggy clothes and a loose turban. The composition, set against a plain gold background, is strictly symmetrical, focusing attention on the three main characters in the center and especially on the stark white of the chessboard.[1]
[Komaroff and Carboni 2002].
Footnotes:
1. Simpson, Marianna Shreve. The Illustrations of an Epic: The Earliest "Shahnama" Manuscripts. Outstanding Dissertations in the Fine Arts. New York and London: Garland Publishing, 1979, fig. 63; Swietochowsi, Marie Lukens and Stefano Carboni. Illustrated Poetry and Epic Images: Persian Paintings of the 1330s and 1340s. Exhib. cat. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1994, p. 123, fig. 35.
"Buzurjmihr Explains the Game of Chess to the Hindu Envoy", Folio from a Shahnama
In a famous story from the Shahnama, the king of Hind challenged Nurshivan (the Sasanian ruler Khusraw I Anushirvan, (r. 531–79), to decipher the rules of the game of chess, at that time unfamiliar to the Persians. Buzurjmihr, a wise councelor at the Iranian court not only deciphered the rules but defeated the Indian emissary and, so the story goes, proceeded to invent backgammon.
Here, as is typical in medieval chess, treatises from the Islamic world, and in manuscripts illustrating Firawsi's epic story of the invention of chess, red and black distinguish the two sides. At the time when this Shahnama was executed, Iran was still under the domination of the Mongol Ilkhanid dynasty (1256–1353) and this political situation is reflected in the distinctly Mongol appearance of the king and courtiers.
[Asia Society 2004]
[ Heeramaneck Galleries, New York, until 1934; sold to MMA]
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Legacy of Genghis Khan: Courtly Art and Culture in Western Asia 1256-1353," October 28, 2002–February 16, 2003, no. 34.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art. "The Legacy of Genghis Khan: Courtly Art and Culture in Western Asia 1256-1353," April 13–July 27, 2003, no. 34.
New York. Asia Society. "Asian Games: The Art of Contest," October 14, 2004–January 18, 2005, no. 12:6.
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution. "Asian Games: The Art of Contest," February 26, 2005–May 15, 2005, no. 12:6.
Middlebury College Museum of Art. "Asian Games: The Art of Contest," September 8, 2005–December 11, 2005, no. 12.6.
Dimand, Maurice S. Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin vol. 29 (1934). pp. 58–60, ill. fig. 1 (b/w).
Swietochowski, Marie, Stefano Carboni, Tomoko Masuya, and Alexander H. Morton. Illustrated Poetry and Epic Images : Persian Painting of the 1330s and 1340s. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1994. p. 123, ill. fig. 35 (b/w).
Carboni, Stefano. "Chessmen in the Department of Islamic Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art." Scacchi e Scienze Applicate suppl. no. 7, fasc. 15 (1996). ill. front cover (b/w.
Rossabi, Morris, Charles Melville, James C. Y. Watt, Tomoko Masuya, Sheila Blair, Robert Hillenbrand, Linda Komaroff, Stefano Carboni, Sarah Bertelan, and John Hirx. The Legacy of Genghis Khan: Courtly Art and Culture in Western Asia, 1256–1353, edited by Stefano Carboni, and Linda Komaroff. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2002. no. 34, pp. 151, 253, ill. fig. 176 (color).
Mackenzie, Colin, and Irving Finkel, ed. Asian Games The Art of Contest. New York: Asia Society, 2004. no. 12:6, p. 141, ill. (color).
Abu'l Qasim Firdausi (Iranian, Paj ca. 940/41–1020 Tus)
15th century
Resources for Research
The Met's Libraries and Research Centers provide unparalleled resources for research and welcome an international community of students and scholars.
The Met Collection API is where all makers, creators, researchers, and dreamers can connect to the most up-to-date data and public domain images for The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.
The Met's collection of Islamic art is one of the most comprehensive in the world and ranges in date from the seventh to the twenty-first century. Its more than 15,000 objects reflect the great diversity and range of the cultural traditions from Spain to Indonesia.