Akbar Receives Gifts from the Ambassadors of Badakhshan

The Book of Akbar, or Akbarnama, is an official, imperial biography of the Mughal emperor Akbar (r. 1556-1605), written by his close friend and associate, Abu ‘l-Fazl. In this painting the emperor is depicted receiving gifts of bows, two small dishes of spinels, swords and hunting falcons from the ambassadors of Badakhshan, a region that today comprises parts of eastern Tajikistan and north-eastern Afghanistan. Badakhshan was an important source of spinels, or balas rubies, a type of precious stone distinct from 'true', or corundum, rubies.