CLASSROOM SCENE

“CLASSROOM SCENE”. 

XVI century. Bukhara school.

The miniature is executed for the “Shakh and Dervish” by Badr al-Din Hilali.

This work is a facsimile copy of the miniature from the manuscript kept in the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Art in Turkiye.

The Sufi poem “Shah and Dervish” by the Persian poet of Turkic origin Badr al-Din Hilali (1470-1529), educated under Alisher Navai, explores themes of power, spirituality, and human nature through the interaction between Shah and Dervish. Hilali created this work in response to the reproach of his contemporary Abd-Allah Khatefi that the author was unable to write a matnawi, and had gained fame only in the creation of ghazals.

The work describes the feelings of a hopelessly in love Dervish, whose ultimate dream is to meet the Shah. As a rule, in Sufi literature, the longing for Allah is conveyed through the allegorical image of Shah, so Hilali bestowed vivid epithets on his protagonist-prince. Thus, through the image of the ruler, Hilali conveys the Dervish’s boundless love for the Creator.

In the story “Classroom Scene” Dervish acts as a mentor, urging Shah and the other students not to be carried away by earthly possessions, and emphasizes the importance of personal spiritual enrichment.

The miniature depicted on the left-hand side of a double-page depicts a scene at the school, where eight figures are present.

In the center of the composition is a white-bearded teacher – Dervish dressed in a green shirt with a brown short-sleeved over robe (kaba) on top, and a white turban on his head. The expression of the teacher’s face indicates his severity and exactingness to his students; this is also evidenced by the gesture of his raised left hand, in which the mentor holds a stick, wanting to punish the student sitting next to him.

The student sits in a light-brown robe with long sleeves covering his hands, in a state of fear. He raised his left hand out of fear, shielding his head to protect himself from blows with a stick. Just below the teacher’s figure on a dark-blue rug, the prince is depicted holding a laukh (sliding wooden book holder) and paper in his hands.

A little to the left – a character in an orange robe punishes a boy in green clothes and pulling his ear. Below there is an image of a young man in blue clothing making a stamp on paper.

In the bottom left corner, a middle-aged man in brown clothing is observing the scene. A little higher from him is a young man watching the learning process from behind the door.

In the center of the interior there is a doorway overlooking a blooming garden. Above the entrance, there is a wooden patterned lattice “panjara”, through which sunlight penetrated into the dwelling.        On both sides of the doorway are two majolicas consisting of glazed tiles (koshins) with a repeating blue “girikh” pattern on a dark blue background. The inner part of the mihrab (prayer niche) wall is decorated with “islimi” style pattern.

There is text on the left side and at the top of the miniature.

KK-619