( fl c.1580-1625). Indian miniature painter, son of `ABD AL-SAMAD. Of noble descent and an accomplished courtier, he is not on the list of 17 highly prized artists compiled by Abu'l Fazl, the biographer of the Mughal emperor Akbar (reg 1556-1605), in the Ayin-i Akbari, a contemporary account of court matters. The earliest manuscript with inscriptions naming Muhammad Sharif as a painter is the Khamsa ('Five poems') of Nizami (c. 1585; Pontresina, Keir priv. col.). The style of miniatures assigned to him (fols 73b, 157) suggests a painter at the beginning of his career. The work is mostly carefully contained within the margin, with rather primitive stylized animals, but where it breaks the margin more freedom of movement and greater realism appears. Muhammad Sharif acted as the designer/outliner in three miniatures in the Razmnama ('Book of wars'; c. 1582-6; Jaipur, Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II Mus., MS. AG. 1683-1850): he collaborated with Bhanwari (fol. 122), Kesu Khurd (fol. 118) and Munir (fol. 68). Few other examples can be firmly assigned to him.

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