Khujasta kills the pet mynah who advises her not to be unfaithful to Maymun, her husband, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of the Parrot): First Night c. 1560 Part of a set. See all set records India, Mughal, Reign of Akbar, 16th century Gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper Page: 19.9 x 14.2 cm (7 13/16 x 5 9/16 in.); Painting only: 12.9 x 10.5 cm (5 1/16 x 4 1/8 in.) Gift of Mrs. A. Dean Perry 1962.279.8.a DID YOU KNOW? Merchant ships brave treacherous waters; a distant city appears in the upper left. DESCRIPTION This first painting from Akbar’s Tuti-nama depicts a scene from the book’s frame story. Using a narrative device common in pre-Mughal India, the painting shows three different moments of time: Maymun sailing away on a merchant ship; his wife, Khujasta, on the roof of her house gesturing to, as the story tells us, a prince on the street below, with whom she falls in love; and Khujasta in the courtyard of her home having dashed the pet mynah bird to the floor in anger. An exceptionally important manuscript, the Tuti-nama was painted by Indian artists, many of whom were learning to work in a Persian book format for the first time. Stylistic features of pre-Mughal Indian painting appear throughout the manuscript, such as the flat red floor and the white-on-black horizontal parapet. PROVENANCE Estate of Breckenridge Long, Bowie, MD, 1959; Harry Burke Antiques, Philadelphia, PA; Bernard Brown, Milwaukee, WI; CITATIONS Chandra, Pramod, and Daniel J. Ehnbom. The Cleveland Tuti-Nama Manuscript and the Origins of Mughal Painting. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1976. pp. 83-84 EXHIBITION HISTORY Indian Miniature Rotation (Gallery 115). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (February 4-August 5, 2003). Indian Miniature Rotation (Gallery 115). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (February 20-August 18, 2004). Art and Stories from Mughal India. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (July 31-October 23, 2016).