Slide 1
INTRODUCTIONIn 1526, Babur defeated Ibrahim Lodhi in the 1st
Battle of Panipat.
The Mughals seized political power in north India and later
almost whole of Hindustan.
The Mughal Period saw an outburst of cultural activity in field
of architecture, painting, music and literature. REASONS TO STUDY
PAINTINGS Society in a particular Rulers time.
Economy (in regard to Mughals, we see use of liquid gold and
silver, instead of oil)
Court etiquettes
Wildlife during a rulers reign
Foreign influence in a particular rulers reignPAINTINGS UNDER
AKBAR
Jalal-ud-Din Muhammed Akbar, 3rd Mughal Emperor greatly
influenced the artistic and cultural life of India.
Babur, Akbars grandfather, was not able to contribute anything
to the growth of painting.
Humanyu , at court of Shah of Iran, got interested in
painting.
He requested Shah to send 2 painters Khwaja Abdus Samadh and Mir
Sayyid Ali to accompany him to India.
The credit for establishing the Imperial Patronage in India goes
to Akbar. But he could not have succeeded if there was already in
India considerable art activity.
There is evidence of a lively tradition of murals and painted
cloth during the 13th and 14th centuries.
Also, a notable number of illustrated manuscripts from Mandu and
Awadh have become known. The Bostan-i-S'adi, illustrated by the
artist Hajji Mahmud.
Ni'mat Nama (a book on cookery)
Are a few examples.
The court of Akbar was truly cosmopolitan , in which poets,
artists, philosophers, musicians all received due recognition.
"His majesty, from his earliest youth, has shown a great
predilection for this art, and gives it every encouragement, as he
looked upon it as a means, both of study and amusement." Abul Fazl,
Ain-i-Akbari.
Mir Sayyid Ali and Abdus Samad ( also known as Shireen Qalam)
continued to be chief ateliers at Akbar's court. According to Abul
Fazl, most of the painters in Akbar's court were Hindus who came
from different castes and came from different parts of the country
like : Gwalior, Gujarat, Lahore, Kashmir, Malwa, Rajasthan etc.
Foremost Hindu painters were Daswanth, Basawan and Lal. Under
Akbar's direct patronage Daswanth ( who was the son of a palanquin
bearer) became the "first master of the age". STYLES AND TECHNIQUES
IN PAINTINGSFeatures of the illustrations in early phase of Akbars
reign are:- Symmetrical compositions. Restricted movement of
figures. Highly ornamented buildings. Plain depiction of scenery.
From 1580s onwards we see a change in the paintings :- Natural and
rhythmic patterns. Hunting and courts scenes being replaced with
more day to day life scenes. More realism. Introduction of Portrait
paintings. IMPORTANT ILLUSTRATED MANUSCRIPTS UNDER AKBARHAMZA
NAMA
TUTI NAMA
Anwar-i-suheili The Mughal artist made a conscious effort at
refinement of miniature technique.
This volume was written on finest paper and many of the pages
are decorated with animals, birds and flowers in golden
arabesque.
BABUR NAMA Illustrated copies of autobiography of Babur throw
light on his personality.
Tarikh-e-khandan-e-timuriya It deals with the history ofTimur
and his descendants in Iran and India.
Akbarnama The dramatic incidents in theLife of the Emperor are
painted in these. To understand Indian culture better, Akbar
ordered the Persian translation of Ramayana and Mahabharata.
Akbar's interest in painting was, according to Prof Nihar
Ranajan Roy, only a part of the grand vision, which was to give
India as an authoritarian and imperial ruler and within a feudal
system, a new and composite Indian culture.
