Paying homage to Sultan Ala’ud-din Khalji, from a series of paintings illustrating the Hamir Hath legend

This early 19th-century Indian painting depicts a scene from the Hamir Hath, a Rajasthani legend that relates the story of the downfall of the heroic but arrogant king Hammira in the 13th century. Here we see the dramatic moment when one of Hammira’s men, his brother Bhoja in some accounts, defects and presents himself to the king's foe, the Delhi sultan Ala’ud-din Khalji. The combination of delicacy and precision is characteristic of 18th- and 19th-century painting in the small kingdoms of India's Himalayan foothills.