Persian Lacquered Book Covers

Source: [1]

Persian Kama Sutra Book Leaf

Manuscript
Era: Mughal Period, India
Date: 19th century
Size: 8 x 4 inches
Sold at liveauctioneers.com
Sources: [1], [2]

Kama Sutra is the ancient India 's racy sex manual. This is another possibly Mughal manuscript written in Persian language. The painting shows the red sky at morning during sunrise while the couple are enjoying themselves at the riverbank. In the Mughal Empire, the Persian language flourished and played a major role in the court affair. Most of the Persians migrated to South Asia to prosper and obtain high positions in Mughal Empire. Many were Sunni Persians who felt discriminated in The Safavid Empire and migrated to mostly Sunni Mughal Empire. There were also rebels and nobles who lost royal favor and migrated to Mughal Empire. The Mughals also preferred to employ foreign Muslim officials that had little or no local interests and thus were loyal to the Mughal emperor. Another reason for emigration of Persian elites to Mughal Empire during the 16-18th centuries was the prosperity of Mughals compared to Safavid Persia.

Schiac Appas, Re di Persia (Shah Abbas, King of Persia)

Drawing or engraving
Place of Origin: Venice.
Date: 1596.
Publisher: Giacomo Franco.
Engraver: Giacomo Franco (Italian, Venetian, 1550–1620) From: Effigie naturali dei maggior prencipi et più valorosi capitani di questa età con l'armi loro, raccolte et con dilegentia intagliate da Giacomo Franco (Natural Likenesses of the Major Princes and Most Valorous Captains of This Age, with Their Arms, Collected and Diligently Engraved by Giacomo Franco).
Dimensions: 12 x 8 3/16 x 1/2 in. (30.5 x 20.8 x 1.3 cm)
Kept in Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Sources: [1], [2]

This page from Giacomo Franco's book of contemporary rulers depicts the Persian king, Shah Abbas I (r. 1588–1629), whose valor the Venetians greatly admired. The shah's ambassadors received a royal welcome in Venice and assured the city's merchants that they would always be welcome to trade in Persia.