SIGNED AHMAD/MUHAMMAD (?), QAJAR IRAN, DATED AH 1271⁄6 (1855/6 OR 1860⁄61AD) OR AH 1251⁄6 (1835/6 OR 1840⁄41AD) (?)

The scene on top of this pencase depicts events from the Battle of Chaldiran, fought between the Ottoman and Safavid armies in 1514. We see the Safavid Shah Isma’il I (r.1501-24) gallantly riding ahead of his army and cleaving the Agha of the Janissaries in two, right in front of the Ottoman Sultan Selim I (r.1512-20). Despite this scene, the Safavid army was to lose the Battle with the defeat being of significant historical importance. Whilst fielding far greater numbers than their Safavid counterparts, it was the use of artillery by the Ottoman army that dictated the outcome, and the cannon can be seen in background of the scene.
Although Chaldiran was a crushing defeat for the Safavids, depictions of the battle were popular, especially in the 19th century. A large mural of the battle can be seen on the walls of the Chihil Sotoun Palace in Isfahan. A very similar pencase bearing the same scene, attributed to Mirza Baba or Sayyid Mirza and dated AH 1200 (1785-6 AD), is in the Khalili Collection (Part 1, cat.123).