History The fifth poem of Nizami’s Khamsah (Quintet), Iskandarnamah, is a two-part account of the life of Alexander the Great or Iskandar as he is called in Persian. Nizami’s portrayal of Alexander as a philosopher-king would have appealed to Akbar, who promoted himself as a just and tolerant ruler. Photo: Artist, Dharamdas. Lahore, 1593-5, Public domain With the British Library exhibition ‘Alexander the Great: The making of a Myth’ drawing to a close, I would like to highlight one of my special favourites: the Emperor Akbar’s personal copy of Nizami’s Khamsah (Quintet) of which the fifth poem, the Iskandarnamah , is a two-part account of the life of Alexander the Great or Iskandar as he is called in Persian. The priestess pleads with Iskandar to spare the sanctuary idol from destruction. Photo: Artists La’l and Mukund. Lahore, 1593-5, Public Domain Commissioned by Akbar (r.1556–1605) in Lahore between 1593 and […]

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