Sikh Amlikar Rumal (embroidered square shawl) depicting Scenes from the Iskandernama or Book of Alexander the Great, Kashmir, after 1900, Pashmina embroidered with wool, 190 x 190 cm.This elaborately embroidered shawl replicates the famous shawl of Maharaja Gulab Singh (r.1846-57) from Jammu and Kashmir, which is dated 1852 (dates according to the Hindu vs1909 and Islamic calendars AH1268), and is now in the Government Museum and Art Gallery in Chandigarh. The present shawl consists of a deep border with depictions from the life of Iskander, starting with his birth, scenes from his life and finishing with his death. Each section is embroidered with an inscription explaining the scene. The central square around the medallion with inscription depicts Kay-Kavis and Kay Khusrau from the Shahnama. The embroiderer seems not to have been conversant with Persian script and some of the inscriptions are difficult to decipher.These embroidered shawls were introduced into the Kashmir shawl manufacturing process in the late 1820s, as a quicker means of producing a shawl and of avoiding the high taxes imposed on woven goods. Embroidered designs at first imitated woven ones but a new genre arose in about 1830 that incorporated new motifs with human figures and animals, often taken from Persian art and literature. These designs also appeared on Kashmir painted papier-mache furniture. The pictorial embroidered style was initially used to decorate sashes (patkas) and the edging of robes (chogas) but the most elaborate examples were those shawls illustrating themes from Persian mythology and literature as well as a small and important group embroidered with maps of Srinagar and Kashmir dating from the third quarter of 19th century. One such example was recently exhibited at the Victoria & Albert Museum in 'The Fabric of India' show (cat.79 pp.70-71). Ranjit Singh (1780-1839) had earlier commissioned a pair of shawls depicting his own victories which presumably was also embroidered and for which he paid an astronomical advance of 50,000 rupees. According to the traveller, G.T. Vigne, only one of these shawls was completed but this shawl does not appear to have survived.These embroidered pictorial shawls must have been exhibition or presentation pieces rather than shawls to wear. Bibliographyed Crill, R. 'The Fabric of India' Victoria & Albert Museum, 2016Crill, R., Indian Embroidery, 1999, nos 31, 32, 34ed Cohen S., Kashmir Shawls in the Tapi Collection, 2012, pp. 290-299ed Stronge, S., The Arts of the Sikh Kingdoms, 1990, pp. 128-129Please refer to department for condition report