Inayat Khan Dying

Inayat Khan Dying

A Mughal miniature
Jahanghir Period
1618 AD.

       Jahanghir was fascinated by the reality around him. Curious by nature, he would carry his painters with him on his sojourns.  If he came across any unusual thing, he would ask the painters to paint it. Inayat Khan's condition shocked Jahanghir.  Hence this painting.
         Inayat Khan was one of jahangir's  intimate attendants.  Later in life he became addicted to opium and wine. His health deteriorated.  He wanted the royal permission so that he could go back to Agra. When Jahangir saw his condition,  he was horrified.  He asked himself "Good God, can a son of man come to such a shape and fashion?"
        But Jahangir did not learn any lesson. He himself became an opium addict later in life. He too died of opium addiction.
        Beginning with Jahangir period, the painters moved away from stylization to realism. Painters like Bachitra specialized in portraiture.  Jahangir emphasised realism in art. This tendecy would reach its climax under Shah Jahan. Under Jahangir,  Indian art took a u-turn. ?

Jahangir Enthroned on an Hourglass

Jahangir Enthroned on an Hourglass 

a painting by Bichitr
from Jahangirnama
Jahangir period
17th century AD.

         Another painting of propaganda.  Not a political one, but a spiritual one. The Emperor sits on an hourglass where the sand of time and life flows by. He has four supplicants before him. Shaikh Husain of the Chishti shrine, the Ottoman Sultan, James I --the King of England, and the painter Bichitr himself. The Emperor ignores the last three. Instead he gives his Book of Life to Shaikh Husain. The Emperor takes refuge in Islam.
        This painting is interesting for many other reasons as well. It shows the growing interest in Western art and technology.  The portrait of James I is a copy of an English painting. The cherubs are also borrowed from western paintings.  The  idea of an hourglass is an English imported item. Further it is one of the few occasions in Indian art that we have a self-portrait of an artist. A rare thing indeed. The status of the artist has improved from being a mere artisan to being depicted with the Emperor himself. The artist is beginning to emerge in his own right.

Jahangir's Dream

Jahangir's Dream

a painting by Abu'l Hasan
from the Jahangirnama
Jahangir period
17th century AD.

        Jahangir is generally depicted as an opium edicted, alcoholic emperor, who lost control of his empire to his wife Nur Jahan. But there is another side to him--a patron of the artist, a guardian of his empire, a generous man, a propagandist politician, an eager naturalist, an emperor who expanded the Mughal empire.
       Qandahar was a bone of contention between the Mughals and the Shah of Persia. Both claimed the city to be theirs. Unable to persuade the Shah to leave the city in the Mughal hands, Jahangir had a dream where the Mughals squeeze the Persians out and push them back.
        This painting depicts the dream. The mighty Jahangir embraces the skinny Shah, the Mughal lion nudges the Persian sheep. The halo of the sun and the moon shine luminously behind Emperor Jahangir. The Persian Shah basks in the glory of the Mughal emperor.  This  is pure political propaganda. 
         Interestingly,  Abu'l Hasan has borrowed elements from western art, notably the cherubs,  and the map of the world. Cartography or map making was not well known in India at that time. This painting shows the fusion of the Islamic, the Hindu and the Western art tradition.  Globalisation had begun.

The Birth of a Prince

The Birth of a Prince 

a painting by Bishan Das
from Jahangirnama
Jahangir period
17th century AD.

        Jahangir was the fourth Mughal emperor. Like Babar, he too maintained a diary, known as Jahangirnama. Like the Babarnama and Akbarnama, the diary was also heavily illustrated.  Jahangir was a great patron of painters. His period (1605-1627)  has produced some of the best artists of India.
        Bishan Das was one of the finest painter of Jahangir's atelier.  He specialized in portrait painting.  In fact Jahangir records that he had sent Bishan Das to Iran in order to paint a portrait of Shah of Iran with whom he had friendly relations.
          Here Bishan Das paints Jahangir's birth. We get a peep into the Zannakhana or the ladies palace. The newly born child is being presented to the mother. The old grandmother sits in the chair. There are women and eunuchs gossiping and singing.  A eunuch group is clapping and singing. The gate of the palace is decorated with a string of flowers and closed with a curtain. A group of astrologers, sitting outside the palace,  are drawing up the horoscope of the prince. Men laden with trays of jewelles and clothes have arrived--possibly sent by Akbar himself at the arrival of Salim, the future Jahangir.
       These paintings conjure up the Mughal world for us. They  are important both as art pieces and as historical documents of an age bygone.

Peacock and Peahen

Peacock and Peahen

 by Ustad Mansur
 Jahangir Period
 17th century AD.

          This is one of the best known and a popular miniature painting of the Mughal School. Unlike the endless stylized dancing peacocks found in Indian arr, Mansur has caputured the peacock in a natural pose--as runing with its pray, a small snake in its beak. The running peacock has drawn the peahen's attention,  as she turns to look at the peacock. This is one of the most 'naturalistic' or 'realistic'  miniatures from the Mughal School. Yet it is also ingrained in the Persian tradition of miniatures with its stylized trees, and rocky, jagged landscapes,  and with its flatness. Stuart Cary Welch has said, " Partly grounded in nature, partly fanciful, this minature's total effect is wholly lyrical". In its spirit it reflects the cosmopolitan culture of the Mughal court--partly Hindu, partly Western, yet with an underpinning of Persian culture.

A Zebra

A Zebra 

by Mansur
Jahangir Period
17th century AD.

        Jahangir was a naturalist. He was fascinated by the flora and fauna of India. Whenever he would come across a new or strange flower or animal, he would ask Mansur, his favourite painter, to paint it.
        The first Zebra was brought to Jahangir's court. It aroused everyone's curiosity. In the Jahangirnama, he says "some people imagined that it had been colored... (but) after minute inquiry into the truth, it became known that the lord of the world was the creator thereof." The mystery was solved by Jahangir himself, when he told the retainer to pluck a few hair and see the color of the hair at the roots. Jahangir had Mansur paint the first Zebra, the first Turkey and the first Giraffe brought to his court. Ustad Mansur was the best wild life painter of the Mughal atelier.
     Jahangir emerges as a rare King: an emperor with a scientific temperament. 

Jahangir Receives Prince Khurram on his Return from Deccan

Jahangir Receives Prince Khurram on his Return from Deccan

Painting by Ramdas and Murari.
From Padshahnama. 1640 AD.

           After the Mewar campaign,  Jahangir sent Prince  Khurram to conquer the Deccan Sultanate. This was another task left incomplete by Akbar. During this campaign,  the Mughal court shifted to Mandu in Madhya Pradesh. After more than a year Prince Khurram returned from the Deccan campaign.  He brought the enormous wealth of the Deccan with him. Jahangir was so overjoyed to see his son that he left the throne and went to embrace him. This painting depicts that touching moment. It is at Mandu that Jahangir conferred the title of "Shah Jahan" on Prince Khurram. Jahangir has described this scene in his Jahangirnama.

           The artists of Shah Jahan atelier were well versed in realism. In fact, prior to the modern period, realism had reached its zenith during the Shah Jahan period. The individualization of each figure is the hallmark of painters of Shah Jahan period.
         Here each figure is unique. In fact each person has been identified by art historians. We have Raja Bikramjit of Bikaner, Asaf Khan--Shah Jahan's father-in-law, and others. The painting beautifully depicts the hierarchy of the Mughal court and of the Medieval society.

Jahangir Receives Prince Khurram on His Return from the Mewar Campaign

Jahangir Receives Prince Khurram on His Return from the Mewar Campaign

painting by Balchand from the  Padshanama

       The Padshanama, the biography of Emperor Shah Jahan,  was written by Abdul-Hamid Lahawari. It is similar to Akbarnama as both are biographies of the Emperors written by tge court hiatorians.

        Emperor Akbar had tried his best to subdue Mewar. But Maharana Pratap proved to be an elusive enemy. The task of conquering Mewar fell on Prince Khurram after Jahangir ascended the Mughal throne.  Prince Khurram successfully conquered Mewar. Ironically, Rana Amar and Prince Khurram subsequently became the best friends.

        Here we see Prince Khurram returning from the Mewar campaign.  Interestingly he is show touching the feet of his father, Emperor Jahangir--a Hindu custom.

        Balchand is one of the finest painters of Jahangir's and Shah Jahan's period.  He is known for his individualized portraits of the people. In this painting each figure can be identified as an individual person. The court scene is a veritable list of Who's who of Jahangir's court. This painting depicts the hustle and bustle,  the splendour and the opulence of the Mughal court. No wonder Europeans were dazzled by India's wealth. 

A Rustic Concert

A Rustic Concert

A Rustic Concert

by Govardhan
Jahangir Period
17th century AD

         The Europeans were already in India during Akbar's period. Akbar was attracted by the spirituality of Christianity, Jahangir,  by European art. He asked many of his artists to copy European paintings. The Mughal artists learned the elements of Western art: shading, three dimensionality, perspective, realism.

         Goverdhan's paintings are heavily influenced by Western art as can be seen in this painting. In the foreground we see a mendicant sitting and looking and listening to the musicians.  In the middle-ground and background we see an Inadian village with its thached huts, tents, and animals.

      These paintings not only gave the Mughal emperors a peek into their rural areas, but also give us a glimpse of a world of a bygone age.