In the A’in-i-Akbari, Abu’l Fazl named the major painters at Akbar’s court, beginning with Mir Sayyid Ali and Abd as-Samad. Third on this list, which seems to be hierarchic, is Daswanth, of whom it was written:

The Akbarnama narrative dates the death of the painter to 1584, and corroborates his insanity and suicide.

The character of Daswanth as an artist is elusive, for few of his works exist. A signed and certainly authentic page is found in the Tutinama and provides further evidence for that manuscript’s imperial origin and Akbar period date; the illustration is early and immature, however. While he must have worked on the Hamzanama as well - its dates coincide with the years of his greatest activity in the court workshops - successful attributions to his hand have yet to be made. The greatest, fully mature illustrations by Daswanth known to us are in a Razmnama (Book of Wars) manuscript begun in 1582. These are paintings that he designed, but did not fully execute.