f.217b: arrival of Prince Awrangzeb (plate 44) This is the last darbar scene in the Padshahnama. The location is the Hall of Public Audience in Lahore, in the north of Shah-Jahan’s empire, on 9 January 1640. The court was based in Lahore from August 1638 to 1642 because of the continued threat to the fort at Qandahar to the west. This is the only depiction of the Lahore hall in the manuscript. It clearly records in the ceiling area the distinctive birds and angels typical of mural decoration on the palace walls in Lahore. The small number of courtiers in attendance would suggest that this is a relatively intimate occasion. Although the four Princes and their elderly grandfather, Asaf Khan, appear at the jharoka level, according to contemporary accounts Shah-Shuja (seen to the right of the throne) was in Bengal and the four Princes were not together on any occasion during the court’s time at Lahore. The Prime Minister, Asaf Khan, died in the following year. The royal family too have aged and grown: compare their appearance at the accession celebrations in 1628.