Tuti-Nama

This edition of a Persian work executed in the Mogul style, the Book of Parrots describes, in lively miniatures, how a wise parrot strives to prevent the young wife of a far-travelled merchant from committing adultery by telling her the most entertaining stories. The Tuti Nama was extremely popular in the Mogul kingdom, as its contents provided the opportunity of using risqué illustrations. The dangers of such a wayward life are clearly illustrated, either in unambiguous terms, or in a less obvious and codified form of highly interesting parables.

218 Miniatures from a Fascinating, Distant World

The extremely colorful miniatures of the book clearly show the popularity of secular literature as a form of entertainment at the court of the cosmopolitan Mogul Empire in India. Its turbulent history is as stunning as the work itself: in 1963, the leaves emerged from the darkness of history and were offered to the Cleveland Museum of Art where they are still kept.