Image: The Burning of the Rajput women, during the siege of Chitor

Title: From the V&A source: This page of the Akbarnama depicts the 'jauhar', or burning, of the Rajput women following the fall of the fortress of Chitor in 1568. The women perished rather than be captured by the enemy, and it is thought that as many as 300 women died. Akbar ordered thousands of Rajput men to be killed after the Mughal victory in retaliation for their fierce resistance. The Akbarnama was commissioned by the emperor Akbar as the official chronicle of his reign. It was written by his court historian and biographer Abu'l Fazl between 1590 and 1596 and is thought to have been illustrated between about 1592 and 1594 by at least 49 different artists from Akbar's studio. After Akbar's death in 1605, the manuscript remained in the library of his son, Jahangir (r. 1605-1627) and later Shah Jahan (r. 1628-1658). The Victoria and Albert Museum purchased it in 1896 from Mrs Frances Clarke, the widow of Major-General John Clarke, who bought it in India while serving as Commissioner of Oudh between 1858 and 1862.
Credit: Akbarnama http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O9614/painting-the-burning-of-the-rajput/
Author: Unknown (production)
Usage Terms: Public domain
License: Public domain
Attribution Required?: No