Husain Ali Khan Entertaining His Brothers (The Sayyid Brothers) c. 1712-19 India, Mughal Dynasty (1526-1756) Opaque watercolor and gold on paper Page: 30.8 x 30.5 cm (12 1/8 x 12 in.) Gift in honor of Madeline Neves Clapp; Gift of Mrs. Henry White Cannon by exchange; Bequest of Louise T. Cooper; Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund; From the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection 2013.334 DID YOU KNOW? The man shown smoking a hookah is the Mughal imperial ruler. DESCRIPTION The shrewd imperial oligarch smoking the hookah and his brothers ran the Mughal government after the death of Emperor Alamgir in 1707 until the rise of Emperor Muhammad Shah in 1719. They were ruthless, self-serving kingmakers who caused the assassinations and accessions of six different members of the royal family to the Mughal throne in Delhi. The two attendants behind him exchange a worried glance, and the rare use of a flat gray sky behind the white marble terrace suggests the artist’s mood about the future strength and prosperity of the empire. INSCRIPTION Persian inscription at bottom, in nasta‘liq script: Portraits of Nawab Husayn-Ali Khan and Abdullah Khan and Najm al-Din Ali Khan and Fakhr al-Din Ali Khan EXHIBITION HISTORY The Cleveland Museum of Art (7/31/2016-10/23/2016); Art and Stories from Mughal India, cat. 75, p. 250. Indian Gallery 242 Rotation – April-November 2018. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (April 2-November 18, 2018).