Abd al-Samad
16th-century Persian painter (1500-1593) · Artists · Died at 93
'Abd al-Ṣamad or Khwaja 'Abd-us-Ṣamad Shirazi, was a 16th century painter of Persian miniatures who moved to India and became one of the founding masters of the Mughal miniature tradition, and later the holder of a number of senior administrative roles.
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Barbad Plays for Khusraw, Khamsa of Nizami, British Library, Oriental 2265, 1539-43, inscribed Mirza Ali at bottom left.
The earliest known example of a Mughal painting, Princes of the House of, Timur (c. 1550-55), is attributed to Abd al-Samad. It was probably executed for Humayun, and added to under later emperors to update the family tree.Painted with gouache and gold on fine cotton fabric. British Museum
Jamshid writing on a rock, by Abd al-Samad in 1588
Arghan Div Brings the Chest of Armour to Hamza, from Volume 7 of the Hamzanama, supervised by Samad.About this person
'Abd's career under the Mughals, from about 1550 to 1595, is relatively well documented, and a number of paintings are authorised to him from this period. From about 1572 he headed the imperial workshop of the Emperor Akbar and "it was under his guidance that Mughal style came to maturity". It has recently been contended by a leading specialist, Barbara Brend, that Samad is the same person as Mirza Ali, a Persian artist whose documented career seems to end at the same time as Abd al-Samad appears working for the Mughals.
