Page from Tales of a Parrot (Tuti-nama): text page c. 1560 Part of a set. See all set records India, Mughal, Reign of Akbar, 16th century Ink and gold on paper Gift of Mrs. A. Dean Perry 1962.279.33.a DESCRIPTION The book of the Tuti-nama from which this page comes consists of 341 folios, or 682 pages. The 52 tales told by the parrot Tuti to his mistress Khujasta and the overarching frame story about Khujasta herself are all written in Persian. Here the form of the script is called naskh and is read from right to left. The word in blue means “cut,” which indicates that the prose narrative will cut to a poetic verse. The Tuti-nama was written in 1329–30 by a Persian-speaking Sufi scholar and author from Central Asia. He based it on an earlier Persian work that recast a collection of Sanskrit fables from ancient India and other Persian tales. The blending of cultures and ethnicities long pre-dated the Mughals in India. PROVENANCE Estate of Breckenridge Long, Bowie, MD, 1959; Harry Burke Antiques, Philadelphia, PA; Bernard Brown, Milwaukee, WI; EXHIBITION HISTORY Streams and Mountains Without End: Asian Art and the Legacy of Sherman E. Lee at the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 27-August 23, 2009). Art and Stories from Mughal India. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (July 31-October 23, 2016).