# Sultan and Musicians

- Date: c. 1650
- Medium: Gum tempera and gold on paper
- Classification: Painting
- Dimensions: Image: 16.9 x 20.4 cm (6 5/8 x 8 1/16 in.); Border: 20.3 x 23.6 cm (8 x 9 5/16 in.)
- Culture: Mughal India, Deccan
- Credit line: Gift of Dr. Norman Zaworski
- Museum: [Cleveland Museum of Art](https://clevelandart.org/art/2012.300)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://invisiblenetwork.ai/thumbs/cma/2012.300/2012.300_web.jpg
- Who can see it: Tweens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

The tone-on-tone pale mustard-yellow carpet and orange floor cushion furnish the terrace with a seat of honor for the figure dressed in white. The peacock-feather whisk held by an attendant behind him is an emblem of his royal status. Lying conspicuously before his knees, Muslim prayer beads mark him as a man of piety. He also partakes in courtly pleasures of hookah smoking and paan chewing. Green triangular paan packets consist of betel nut, lime, and flavorful aromatics such as cinnamon or coconut, wrapped in betel leaf. A brass spittoon by his side would be used for spitting throughout the enjoyable process of chewing the packets.