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=History of Mughal Art In India=

Mughal painting

Later Paintings
ORIGIN

Babur Beg Receives a Courtier, 1589, by Mirza Farrukh Baig of miniature painting under the Turko-Afghan Sultanate of Delhi which the Mughals overthrew, and like the Mughals, and the very earliest of Central Asian invaders into the subcontinent, patronised foreign culture. Al- though the first surviving manuscripts are from Mandu in the years either side of 1500, there were very likely earlier ones which are either lost, or perhaps now attributed to southern Persia, as later manuscripts can be hard to distinguish from these by style alone, and some remain the subject of debate among specialists. [1] By the time of the Mughal invasion, the tradition had abandoned the high viewpoint typical of the Persian style, and adopted a more realistic style for animals and plants. South Asian painting, generally confined to miniatures either as book illustrations or as single works to be kept in albums, which emerged from Persian miniature painting, with Indian Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist influences, and developed largely in the court of the Mughal Empire (16th - 19th centuries), and later spread to other Indian courts, both Muslim and Hindu, and later Sikh. The mingling of foreign Persian and in- digenous Indian elements was a continuation of the pa- tronisation of other aspects of foreign culture as initiated by the earlier Turko-Afghan Delhi Sultanate, and the in- troduction of it into the subcontinent by various Central Asian Turkic dynasties, such as the Ghaznavids. No miniatures survive from the reign of the founder of the dynasty, Babur, nor does he mention commissioning any in his diaries, the Baburnama. Copies of this were illus trated by his descendents, Akbar in particular, with many portraits of the many new animals Babur encountered This art of painting developed as a blending of Persian when he invaded India, which are carefully described. [3] and Indian ideas. There was already a Muslim tradition However some surviving un-illustrated manuscripts may 12,DEVELOPMENT have been commissioned by him, and he comments on the style of some famous past Persian masters. Some older il- lustrated manuscripts have his seal on them; the Mughals came from a long line stretching back to Timur and were fully assimilated into Persianate culture, and expected to patronize literature and the arts.Babur was from Timur family,founder of Mughal empire in India Mughal painting immediately took a much greater in- terest in realistic portraiture than was typical of Persian miniatures. Animals and plants were also more realis- tically shown. Although many classic works of Persian literature continued to be illustrated, as well as Indian works, the taste of the Mughal emperors for writing mem- oirs or diaries, begun by Babur, provided some of the most lavishly decorated texts, such as the Padshahnama genre of official histories. Subjects are rich in variety and include portraits, events and scenes from court life, wild life and hunting scenes, and illustrations of battles. The Persian tradition of richly decorated borders framing the central image was continued.

Princes of the House of Timur, attributed to Abd as-Samad, ca. Mughal painting had two elements which are manuscript 1550-1555. illustrations with Persian elements and Album portraits. [4] The artistic school of Mughal India was formed through the transmission of techniques both directly and indirectly by master artists of the royal Mughal atelier. The methods of agency that perpetuated and aggregated such techniques in Mughal art werefamily ties, court sanctioned apprenticeships, and a joint work system of manuscript production. Family rela- tionships within the atelier were the most prim- itive, however the most highly effective forms of artistic stylistic diffusion. These artists tended to be influenced early on in their ca- reers by their relatives, but with exposure to other artists and styles in turn formed their own stylistic personas.

'DEVELOPMENT'

'Humayun'' ''' When the second Mughal emperor, Humayun (reigned 1530–1540 and 1555-1556) was in exile in Tabriz in the Safavid court of Shah Tahmasp I of Persia, he was ex- posed to Persian miniature painting, and commissioned at least one work there, an unusually large painting of Princes of the House of Timur, now in the British Mu- seum. When Humayun returned to India, he brought with him two accomplished Persian artists, Sayyid Ali and Abdus Samad. His usurping brother Kamran Mirza had maintained a workshop in Kabul, which Humayan per- haps took over into his own. Humayan’s major known commission was a Khamsa of Nizami with 36 illuminated pages, in which the different styles of the various artists are mostly still apparent. [6] Apart from the London paint- ing, he also commissioned at least two miniatures show- ing himself with family members, [7] a type of subject that was rare in Persia but was to be common among the Akhbar Mughal painting developed and flourished during the reigns of Akbar, Jahangir and Shah Jahan.

Akbar

During the reign of Humayun’s son Akbar (r. 1556- 1605), the imperial court, apart from being the centre of administrative authority to manage and rule the vast Mughal empire, also emerged as a centre of cultural ex- cellence. Akbar inherited and expanded his father’s li- brary and atelier of court painters, and paid close per- sonal attention to its output. He had studied painting in his youth under Abd as-Samad, though it is not clear how far these studies went. Emperor Jahangir weighs Prince Khurram by Manohar Das, British Museum, 1610-1615. Between 1560 and 1566 the Tutinama (“Tales of a Par- rot”), now in the Cleveland Museum of Art was illus- trated, showing “the stylistic components of the impe- rial Mughal style at a formative stage”. [10] Among other manuscripts, between 1562 and 1577 the atelier worked on an illustrated manuscript of the Hamzanama con- sisting of 1,400 canvas folios. Sa'di's masterpiece The Gulistan was produced at Fatehpur Sikri in 1582, a Darab Nama around 1585; the Khamsa of Nizami (British Li- brary, Or. 12208) followed in the 1590s and Jami's Ba- haristan around 1595 in Lahore. As Mughal-derived painting spread to Hindu courts the texts illustrated in- cluded the Hindu epics including the Ramayana and the Mahabharata; themes with animal fables; individual portraits; and paintings on scores of different themes. Mughal style during this period continued to refine it- self with elements of realism and naturalism coming to the fore. Between the years of 1570 to 1585 Akbar hired over a one hundred painters to practice Mughal style painting.  Jahangir (1605–27)

Jahangir had an artistic inclination and during his reign Mughal painting developed further. Brushwork became finer and the colors lighter. Jahangir was also deeply in- fluenced by European painting. During his reign he came into direct contact with the English Crown and was sent gifts of oil paintings, which included portraits of the King and Queen. He encouraged his royal atelier to take up the single point perspective favoured by European artists, unlike the flattened multi-layered style used in traditional miniatures. He particularly encouraged paintings depict- ing events of his own life, individual portraits, and studies of birds, flowers and animals. The Jahangirnama, written during his lifetime, which is an autobiographical account of Jahangir’s reign, has several paintings, including some unusual subjects such as the union of a saint with a tigress, and fights between spiders.

 Shah Jahan (1628–58) worked on large commissions, the majority of them ap- parently Hindu, to judge by the names recorded. Mughal During the reign of Shah Jahan (1628–58), Mughal paint- painting flourished during the late 16th and early 17th ings continued to develop, but they gradually became centuries with spectacular works of art by master artists cold and rigid. Themes including musical parties; lovers, such as Basawan, Lal, Miskin, Kesu Das, and Daswanth. sometimes in intimate positions, on terraces and gardens; Govardhan was a noted painter during the reigns of Ak- and ascetics gathered around a fire, abound in the Mughal bar, Jahangir and Shah Jahan. paintings of this period. [12] The sub-imperial school of Mughal painting included artists such as Mushfiq, Kamal, and Fazl.

Later paintings

During the first half of the 18th century, many Mughal- trained artists left the imperial workshop to work at Ra- jput courts. These include artists such as Bhawanidas and Aurangzeb (1658-1707) did not actively encourage his son Dalchand. Mughal paintings, but as this art form had gathered mo- mentum and had a number of patrons, Mughal paintings Mughal painting was generally involved a group of artists, continued to survive, but the decline had set in. Some one to decide the composition, the second to actually sources however note that a few of the best Mughal paint- paint, and the third to focus on portraiture doing indi- ings were made for Aurangzeb, speculating that the pathat vidual faces. [14] he was about to close the workshops and thus exceeded themselves in his behalf. [13] A brief revival was noticed during the reign of Muhammad Shah 'Rangeela' (1719– 5 Mughal style today 48), but by the time of Shah Alam II (1759-1806), the art of Mughal painting had lost its glory. By that time, other Mughal-style miniature paintings are still being created schools of Indian painting had developed, including, in today by a small number of artists in Rajasthan concen- the royal courts of the Rajput kingdoms of Rajputana, trated mainly in Jaipur. Although many of these minia- Rajput painting and in the cities ruled by the British East tures are skillful copies of the originals, some artists have India Company, the Company style under Western influ- produced modern works using classic methods with, at ence. times, remarkable artistic effect.

''Artists '' The skills needed to produce these modern versions of Mughal miniatures are still passed on from generation to generation, although many artisans also employ dozens of workers, often painting under trying working conditions, to produce works sold under the signature of their modern masters. ''' Gallery' '' • Portrait of Akbar • A young woman playing a Veena to a parakeet, a symbol of her absent lover. 18th-century painting in the provincial Mughal style of Bengal. • A Mughal woman holding a Veena. • Portrait of Bahadur Shah • A Mughal woman A durbar scene with the newly crowned Emperor Aurangzeb in his golden throne. Though he did not encourage Mughal paint- ing, some of the best work was done during in his reign. • A Mughal Prince and Ladies in a Garden • Nur Jahan • Shah Jahan The Persian master artists Abdus Samad and Mir Sayid Ali, who had accompanied Humayun to India, were in charge of the imperial atelier during the early formative stages of Mughal painting, but large numbers of artists • Daud Khan receives a Kaftan of honor from Munim Khan • A Mughal tournament5 • 1561-The Victory of Ali Quli Khan on the river Gomti-Akbarnama [7] Grove [8] Beach, 58 • Mir Sayyid Ali, a young scholar in the Mughal [9] Beach, 49 Empire, reading and writing a commentary on the Quran in the year 1559. [10] Grove • The scribe and painter of a manuscript for Akbar [11] Eastman • Battle scene from the 1570 Hamzanama of Akbar [12] Britannica • 1561-The Submission of the rebel brothers Ali Quli and Bahadur Khan-Akbarnama [1] [13] Commentary by Stuart Cary Welch • 1561-Akbar riding the elephant Hawa'I pursuing an- other elephant across a collapsing bridge of boats (right) • 1562-Pir Muhammad Drowns While Crossing the Narbada-Akbarnama • 1573-Akbar receiving his sons at Fathpur- Akbarnama • Lion at rest Met • Ascetic Seated on Leopard’s Skin 1. ^ Basawan & Chitra (c.1590-95). “The Submission of the rebel brothers Ali Quli and Bahadur Khan- Akbarnama”. Akbarnama. Check date values in: 7
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