This folio is from an album compiled for the Mughal emperors Jahangir (r. 1605-27) and Shah Jahan (r. 1627-58) between about 1612 and 1640. In his memoirs, Jahangir, whose mother was Hindu, describes Holi, the exuberant Hindu festival: ‘Thursday is the Holi, which in their [the Hindus'] belief is the last day of the year. ... On the night of this day they light fires at the head of the streets and ways, and when it becomes day they for one splash the ashes on each other's heads and faces, and make a wonderful noise and disturbance, and after this wash themselves, put on their apparel, and walk about in the gardens and on the plains.'

Created circa 1635.