Timur distributes gifts from his grandson, the Prince of Multan, from a Zafar-nama (Book of Victories)

The Zafar-nama, a biography of Timur praising his accomplishments, was written in Persian and completed about 20 years after his death. The author was a prominent scholar and advisor to a grandson of Timur who succeeded him as ruler of the Timurid Empire. The Mughal emperors treasured their copies of the Zafar-nama and referenced it during their own acts of territorial expansion. Akbar was overjoyed when his father’s copy, which had been lost in battle 60 years before, was returned to him in 1596. Soon after, Akbar commissioned his own illustrated copy, from which this page has come.