“Sultan Sanjar and the Old Woman”
Fol. 18v from a manuscript of the Khamseh of Nizami
This illustration depicts a well-known story from the Makhzan al-Asrar (“Treasury of Secrets”). Sultan Sanjar (r. 1117–1157), the Seljuq ruler of Iran and Central Asia, sets out to hunt with his entourage, and is halted by an old woman who complains of being ill-treated by the sultan’s soldiers. Sanjar derisively replies that her grievance is laughable in comparison to the conquests he must undertake. She responds: “What good is it to conquer territory if you cannot control your own soldiers?,” fearlessly putting the ruler in his place.