It took some 15 years to complete the Great Mughal Akbar’s copy of the Hamza-nama, which originally contained about 1400 miniatures. This was a gigantic project in every respect, a collaborative effort by Persian and Indian artists that is considered a pioneering work of early Mughal painting.
The book is a fictitious account of the life of Hamza, the Prophet Muhammad’s uncle. Approximately 50 painters worked on the project under the supervision of the famous artists Mir Sayyid 'Ali and 'Abd al-Samad, who both had worked ca. 1522-35 on the royal "Shahnamah" of the Safavid ruler Shah Tahmasp.
