Portrait of a dervish, Qazwin or Mashhad, Safavid, Persia, late 16th century

ink with use of colours and gold on paper, figure of young dervish with jewellery and a robe holding a kashkul, the uncoloured background decorated with scrolling clouds in pen and ink, laid down on stout paper, inner borders of poetry surrounded by illuminated panels, outer borders of red paper

This is an interesting miniature notable for the unusual portrait of a dervish.  His distinctive dress with the gold headpiece, earrings and chains is closely comparable to the attire of a youth identified as a young dervish by Basil Robinson now in the India Office Library  (Robinson 1976, plate v, cat. 152). A further figure, although not so finely painted, can be found in the same collection (op.cit. cat.208, p.68).  Similar figures can also be found in the collection of Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan (A. Welch, Catalogue, No Ir.M.33).