The ''Gulshan-i 'Ishq'' ("The Rose Garden of Love") is a romantic poem written in 1657 by the Indian

Sufi Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

poet

Nusrati Muḥammad Nuṣrat (died 1674), called Nuṣratī ('victorious'), was a Deccani Urdu poet. Life Nuṣratī was born in the Carnatic region into an elite Muslim family of Brahmin origin. He lived as a Sufi dervish before moving to Bijapur. There ...

. Written in the

Deccani language Deccani ( ''dakanī'' or ''dakhanī''; also known as Deccani Urdu, Deccani Hindi, and Deccani Hindustani) is an Indo-Aryan language variety based on a form of Hindustani spoken in the Deccan region of south-central India and is the native l ...

, it combines literary and cultural traditions from

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

. It describes the journey of a prince through a series of fantastical scenes in search of a woman he saw in a dream, leading to their union in a rose garden. Manuscripts of the poem, illustrated with lavish paintings, have survived from the 18th century to the present day.

Background

Nusrati was a poet laureate in the court of

Ali Adil Shah II Ali Adil Shah II (; reigned 4 November 1656 – 24 November 1672) was the 8th Sultan of Bijapur. He succeeded to the throne of Bijapur through the efforts of the Prime Minister Khan Muhammad and the Queen, Badi Sahiba, sister of Qutb Shah of ...

, the Sultan of Bijapur. He has been described as

Bijapur Bijapur (officially Vijayapura) is the district headquarters of Bijapur district of the Karnataka state of India. It is also the headquarters for Bijapur Taluk. Bijapur city is well known for its historical monuments of architectural importa ...

's greatest poet. His poem takes inspiration from another Sufi romance, the 16th-century '' Madhumalati'' written in the Hindawi language by Sayyid Manjhan Shattari Rajgiri. It also resembles ''Mihr-o-Māh'', a Persian poem written in the

Mughal Mughal or Moghul may refer to: Related to the Mughal Empire * Mughal Empire of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries * Mughal dynasty * Mughal emperors * Mughal people, a social group of Central and South Asia * Mughal architecture * Mug ...

court three years before the ''Gulshan-i 'Ishq''. Deccani poetry at this time was strongly influenced by

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

poetry, but combined it with a distinctively Indian flavour. The use of a garden as a metaphor was well established in Deccani literature, with an unkempt garden representing a world in disarray and a "garden of love" suggesting fulfilment and harmony. Deccani romantic literature used many layers of symbolism, involved convoluted plots, and normally centred around a heroic quest that is happily resolved at the end. These features are all present in the ''Gulshan-i 'Ishq''.

Story

Though the plot of ''Gulshan-i 'Ishq'' was adapted from previous romantic poems, Nusrati's version was distinctive because of his extensive use of descriptions, both of natural scenery and of romantic love. The protagonists of the story are Prince Manohar and Madmalati. Manohar falls in love with Madmalati after seeing her in a dream, and his adventures in search of her take him to fantastical creatures and mythical figures, which are illustrated in the manuscripts' paintings. Much of the text describes palaces and natural scenes which Manohar visits. Deserts or dark forests represented being caught in life's problems. The rose garden serves as a poetic metaphor for spiritual and romantic union. Nusrati uses the poem to compliment his patron, listing the virtues of a good ruler and crediting them to Ali Adil Shah II. A prelude to the main story describes the journey of Manohar's father, King Bikram of Banakgir, that results in Manohar's birth. Bikram is a perfect ruler who is despondent that his queen has not borne him a child. He offers food to a holy man, expecting a blessing in return. The man's name, Roshan-i Dil, can be read as "king of the heart". The holy man refuses the food and leaves without a blessing. Bikram goes in search of him, renouncing his comforts and living a life of extreme poverty as an

ascetic Asceticism is a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from worldly pleasures through self-discipline, self-imposed poverty, and simple living, often for the purpose of pursuing spiritual goals. Ascetics may withdraw from the world for their pra ...

with a begging bowl. After a hard journey through desert and wasteland, he eventually encounters Roshan-i Dil again in a beautiful garden filled with joyous creatures. Having been through a transformative journey and experienced hunger and thirst, he is worthy and is granted a magical fruit which allows his wife to conceive.

Manuscripts

Nusrati's extensive descriptions of nature and landscapes, from bleak settings to paradisiacal gardens, inspired the painters who illustrated manuscripts of the poem. No illustrated manuscripts of the poem from Bijapur still exist, but some later creations have survived from a period when

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

took over as the cultural centre of Deccani art. One illustrated manuscript, created at Hyderabad around the year 1710, is now dispersed across several collections, including the

Khalili Collection of Islamic Art The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art includes 26,000 objects documenting Islamic art over a period of almost 1400 years, from 700 AD to the end of the twentieth century. It is the largest of the Khalili Collections: eight collections ...

and the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

. Its text is in the Deccani Urdu language. The paintings combine scenes from the narrative with marginal illustrations of rural, urban, and court life. The figures and landscapes reflect the influence of the late

Golconda Golconda is a fortified citadel and ruined city located on the western outskirts of Hyderabad, Telangana, India. The fort was originally built by Kakatiya ruler Pratāparudra in the 11th century out of mud walls. It was ceded to the Bahmani ...

style of

Deccan painting Deccan painting or Deccani painting is the form of Indian miniature painting produced in the Deccan region of Central India, in the various Muslim capitals of the Deccan sultanates that emerged from the break-up of the Bahmani Sultanate by 1520. ...

. Another illustrated manuscript dates from AH 1156 (1743–44 AD) and is now in the

Philadelphia Museum of Art The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) is an List of art museums#North America, art museum originally chartered in 1876 for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The main museum building was completed in 1928 on Fairmount, a hill located at ...

. It includes 97 colourful paintings and is signed by the calligrapher Ahmad ibn Abdullah Nadkar. The

Salar Jung Museum The Salar Jung Museum is an art museum located at Dar-ul-Shifa, on the southern bank of the Musi River, India, Musi River in the city of Hyderabad, Telangana, India. It is one of the List of museums in India, notable National Museums of India. ...

in Hyderabad has eight more complete manuscripts. "Fairies Descend to the Chamber of Prince Manohar", Folio from a Gulshan-i 'Ishq (Rose Garden of Love) MET TR.179.2011images.jpeg, Fairies descend to the chamber of Prince Manohar, Metropolitan Museum of Art Angels carry Manohar in his bed (6124547617).jpg, Angels carry Manohar in his bed,

San Diego Museum of Art The San Diego Museum of Art is a fine art museum in Balboa Park in San Diego, California, that houses a broad collection with particular strength in Spanish art. It opened as the Fine Arts Gallery of San Diego on February 28, 1926, and changed ...

Khalili_Collection_Islamic_Art_mss_640.2.jpg, Bikram prostrates himself before Roshan-i Dil,

Derivative works

In 2016 the Philadelphia Museum of Art commissioned Pakistani-American visual artist Shahzia Sikander to create a ten-minute video work, "Disruption as Rapture", that animates images from its manuscript of the ''Gulshan-i ‘Ishq''.

Background

Story

Manuscripts

Derivative works

See also

References

Sources

Further reading