The Prevalence of Illustrating Nauʿi Khabushani’s “Burning and Melting” in the Safavid Period: With an Emphasis on the Walters Manuscript

Nauʿi Khabushani’s Suz va Gudaz (“Burning and Melting”) received much attention in the Safavid period. The story comprises the Hindu practice of sati. According to this tradition, after the death of a man, his widow burns herself by joining her deceased groom on the funeral pyre. Although many Persian poets have referred to sati in their poems, Nauʿi Khabushani, Amir Hassan Dihlavi and Mujrim Kashmiri are the only poets who have composed independent works on sati. By the sixteenth century, because of the migration of many poets to India, some of the Indian themes, like sati, entered into the Persian poetry. The wealthy Mughal patrons provided an attractive incentive for the Persian poets and artists.  Although the sati was a bitter and dolorous tradition, its theme of “the unity of lover and beloved” was accepted by the Persian poets. Nauʿi’s Suz va Gudaz, which is a rather unusual subject for a Persian text, enjoyed great popularity in Iran, so that at least five illustrated copies of the text survive. Subsequent to Shahnama, Suz va Gudaz was the most popular illustrated text in later Safavid Iran. The poem, which is modeled after Nizami’s Khusrau va Shirin, recounts the story of the love of a Hindu youth and his marriage. When he rides towards his beloved’s house, and crosses an old bazar, the buildings collapses, burying him and his companions alive. The bride accompanies her groom’s coffin and immolated herself on the funeral pyre. When her friends fail to dissuade her, the Mughal Emperor Akbar, who had heard about the event, promises to adopt the bride and provide her with every comfort, but she remains steadfast in her decision. Thus, the Emperor asks his son Daniyal to accompany the bride to the funeral pyre. This paper, which seeks to survey the reason of the widespread popularity of this text in the Persian art of the seventeenth century, introduces the illustrated manuscripts of the Suz va Gudaz, and in particular focuses on a codex preserved in the Walters Art Museum. Based on historical evidence, the reason of the popularity of Nau‘i’s work can be traced in an event that occurred during the conquest of Qandahar in later Safavid period. Vali Quli Shamlu, the court historian of Shah Abbas II, recounts the story of the death of one of the officials of the Mughal emperor during the siege of the Qandahar fort. His faithful wife decided to commit sati on the funeral pyre. Shamlu detects parallels between this incident and the story of Nau‘i’s poem. He claims that this event inspired Nau‘i to compose a poem. Thus the popularity of the Suz va Gudaz, was in large part related to the commemoration of the single most important military victory of Shah Abbas II.   The poem, which is modeled after Nizami’s Khusrau va Shirin, recounts the story of the love of a Hindu youth and his marriage. When he rides towards his beloved’s house, and crosses an old bazar, the buildings collapses, burying him and his companions alive. The bride accompanies her groom’s coffin and immolated herself on the funeral pyre. When her friends fail to dissuade her, the Mughal Emperor Akbar, who had heard about the event, promises to adopt the bride and provide her with every comfort, but she remains steadfast in her decision. Thus, the Emperor asks his son Daniyal to accompany the bride to the funeral pyre.This paper, which seeks to survey the reason of the widespread popularity of this text in the Persian art of the seventeenth century, introduces the illustrated manuscripts of the Suz va Gudaz, and in particular focuses on a codex preserved in the Walters Art Museum. Based on historical evidence, the reason of the popularity of Nau‘i’s work can be traced in an event that occurred during the conquest of Qandahar in later Safavid period. Vali Quli Shamlu, the court historian of Shah Abbas II, recounts the story of the death of one of the officials of the Mughal emperor during the siege of the Qandahar fort. His faithful wife decided to commit sati on the funeral pyre. Shamlu detects parallels between this incident and the story of Nau‘i’s poem. He claims that this event inspired Nau‘i to compose a poem. Thus the popularity of the Suz va Gudaz, was in large part related to the commemoration of the single most important military victory of Shah Abbas II.