Eternal India Encyclopedia

Eternal India encyclopedia

ART

trend in the development of painting during the 16th cen- tury. The Chaurapanchasika predates the earlier known Mughal painting, and they come from Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Malwa, Rajasthan etc. Under the Pala kings (765-1175) in Bengal, Bud- dhist manuscripts were il- lustrated in a style that re- called Ajanta. The subjects

instructed by Mir Sayyid Ali and Abdus Samad in the technical details of Persian miniatures thereby beginning a syncretic school of painting. Red, blue and green predominate; the

pink coloured rocks and the vegetation, plants and blossoming trees are reminis- cent of Persia. The illustrated epics, Mahabharata and Ramayana, were pro- duced under the Hindu artist, Daswanth (trained under Persian artists). Daswanth was the son of a palanquin- bearer. He was apprenticed to the painter Abdus Samad and became one of the most famous painters at the court of Akbar. His signature appears on about a dozen of the miniatures for the Razm- Nama. The Timur-Nama, Babur-Nama

are scenes from the life of the Buddha and other Buddhist deities. They were done by the monks of Nalanda and Vikramashila univer- sities. They depict the Vajrayana form of Buddhism. In Mandu, the styles were a mix of Gujarati, Jaunpur and Oudh, Rajput and the Deccan mode from the south. During the rule of the Khilji dynasty in Mandu, the Nimat-Nama (Book of Delicacies), painted during this period, shows a strong Persian influence of the Turkoman school. In the 7th and 8th centuries, Arabs kindled by the new faith of Islam, swept over Syria, Egypt, Persia, Asia Minor and Spain, turned to India and conquered Sind. After Muhammad Ghori extin- guished Hindu power in 1192, northern India was ruled by a succes- sion of Islamic dynasties, namely the Slave dynasty, the Khilji, the Tughlaqs, Sayyids, Lodis; but these rulers adhered faithfully to the Islamic ban on the art of painting. However, in Jaunpur (Bihar) un- der the Sharqi Kugi and Khilji Pathas and Malwa (capital Mandu) under the Rajput Paramaras developed schools of painting. The volume on cookery, Nimat Nama, was produced (1506). The ro- mance between Baz Bahadur and Rupamati was a much-loved theme for the artist. Under the patronage of Baz Bahadur, Mandu painting flourished using primary colours (yellow, green, red) ap- propriate to the passions. The women have flowing skirts, narrow waists, full lips and breasts. They appear in pavilions of chaste architecture. The drawing is precise and the trees and foliage are simplified and stylised in a manner soon to be identified with the painting of South Rajasthan. Mandu painting came to an end with the overthrow of Baz Bahadur, the style reappearing with modifica- tions in Malwa and in Mewar (Rajasthan). However, Mandu paint- ing under the patronage of the Mughals developed greatly. In the Nimat Nama, the dresses are Persian, with shades of blue, green, orange, golden sky, high horizon, ribbon-shaped Chi- nese colours, cone-like hills, faces in 3/4 view, flame-like glory, flowered background although the intense blue background, strident colours (particularly yellow), symmetrical groups of figures are new. Spacing is lacking and comma-like stripes at the end of the landscape are noticeable. Humayun while in exile in Persia and Afghanistan came in contact with Persian artists (at the court of Shah Tahmasp). Aga Mirak, Sultan Muhammad and Muzaffar Ali, who were pupils of the legendary Bihzad and Mir Sayyid Ali and Abdus Samad accompa- nied him (and Akbar) to India. Akbar may be said to be the real founder of Mughal painting. Having distinguished himself in a synthesis of Rajput Hindu architecture and Muslim architecture, his patronage to painting was remarkable. More than a hundred painters (most of them Hindus) were employed in the royal atelier at Fatehpur Sikhri, who were

and Akbar Nama are the pictorial sagas of the Mughal rulers. Mughal painting was neither Persian nor indigenous, but a happy synthesis of both. The kings preferred the warm colours and fren- zied style of the Chaurapanchasika group to the more subdued pal- ette and formal decorative art of Persia. Other famous Mughal painters in Akbar's court were Basawan, Harbans, Keshavalal, Madhu and Mukund. Basawan collaborated on the illustration of the Razm-Nama, the Persian translation of the Mahabharata commissioned by Akbar. Harbans was a painter mentioned in the Ain-i-Akbari, written in about 1595 by Abul Fazl, biographer of the Emperor Akbar. Madhu was a painter known for his portraits and for several illustrations for the Akbar Nama, a his- tory of Akbar's reign written by Abul Fazl. Other painters men- tioned in Ain-i-Akbari are Keshavalal and Mukund. The themes include the-rulers riding wild elephants. Abul Fazl tells us that the works were laid before Akbar weekly and he used to confer rewards according to the excellence of workmanship. He also encouraged portraiture and he sat for his own portrait. Mughal painting was a co-operative work in which numerous artists and craftsmen participated. Junior artists ground the materials for the pigments and burnished the paper. The thick handmade paper came into wide usage during Akbar's reign in a factory established at