19c ABDULLAH QUTB SHAH, VERSO WITH A CALLIGRAPHY PANEL
Labeled in nasta‘liq as Abdullah Qutb Sha Abdullah Qutb Shah (r. 1626-72) did not have a happy reign. The seventh ruler in the line of the Qutb Shahi Sultans he was defeated by the Mughal emperor Alamgir (Aurangzeb) and confined to the fort of Golconda. His second daughter did become the principal wife of Alamgir’s eldest son Muhammad Sultan Mirza, but nothing came of it. Abdullah is depicted in three quarter view, actually rare for important personages in Mughal and Deccani painting. Few others including the earlier Mughal Emperor Akbar are depicted this way. He also does not have the common beard, rather only a mustache and long sideburns.
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