Hamzanama - Umar hitting the foot soldier on the head with a staff so that the message falls out
Museum of Applied Arts, Vienna
Inv. No. BI 08770-24r
...While the Amir was at the court of Ghurur Shah in the city of Ghururiyya a messenger entered the court and brought Ghurur Shah a letter reading: “[...] since eternity shines upon you, hasten in this direction and punish these disobedient servants. It is time for the army to take up arms and proceed in great numbers [...] to show proof of their strength and bring down the God-worshippers.”
The messenger who was given a mount to ride to the army encamped in the Garden of Paradise fled when seeing the Amir. So Umar was sent by the Amir to Alamshah, went to the army, sized up the situation and eventually saw a man on foot coming out of five Hills...
The illustration shows Umar and a foot soldier in front of the fortress. After ordering him to stop, Umar approached him. No matter how many times he asked whose retinue he belonged to, the soldier refused to say anything. Angrily Umar grabbed the staff which the soldier was holding in his hand and with it hit him on the head so hard that the staff broke and the letter that Aqbah had sent to Taus Shah fell out.
