Gazi scroll
- Audio guide stop: 605
- Gallery: Room 33
- Culture: Bengal
- Made in: Bengal (historic); Murshidabad District (?)
- Date: 1800 (circa)
- Object type: pata
- Materials: paper
- Museum number: 1955,1008,0.95
- Museum: The British Museum
- Collection record: British Museum website
- Image © The Trustees of the British Museum, shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence.
Listen to the free audio guide
About this object
Before you is "The 'Gazi' Scroll," an extraordinary painted scroll from Bengal, made around 1800. This work is filled with fifty-four vibrant scenes, telling the stories of Muslim saints, like Gazi Pir and Manik Pir.
Look closely — you’ll see a grand ocean-going ship under sail, a tiger riding figure with a serpent-staff, and a Sufi saint in a distinctive robe, capable of miracles like making a barren cow give milk. The scroll also portrays a crocodile, likely representing the Ganges river goddess's vehicle.
This painted scroll was used as a visual aid in storytelling, highlighting the blend of Hindu and Muslim cultural elements that were common in rural Bengal. Saints and miracles, along with themes of jungle conquest and rivers, reflect Bengal’s rich oral traditions and spiritual history.
See it in person
Gazi scroll is on display in Room 33 at the British Museum on Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, London — free to enter. Choose British Museum on audioguide.london and type its audio guide stop number, 605, from the gallery label, or take a photo of it, to hear this free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
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