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Origin of Mughal School of PaintingsThe genesis, nature and progress of Mughal School ofpainting are an amalgamation of numerous components.Chinese art which had impact of Buddhist Indian art,Hellenic, Mongolian and Iranian art was brought to Iran inthe 13th centur and it !ept on "ourishing till 1#thcentur in Iran. $rom %ersia, Mughals carried this art toIndia. &ater, Humaun's fascination with %ersian %aintingsin the court of Shah Tahmasp II in Tabri( was the

foundation cause of e)istence of Mughal School of%aintings. He was so infatuated with the %ersian art $ormthat two %ersian %ainters were with him when he came toIndia. The Indian *ersion of their wor! is toda !nown asthe Mughal %aintings. The Tutinama +Tales of a %arrot- isthe /rst e)ample of Mughal School of %ainting. It is now in

the Cle*eland Museum of 0rt.Themes of Mughal School of PaintingMughal %aintings ga*e blossoming shades of *ariet. Therich assortment included e*ents, portraits and scenesfrom the court life, hunting scenes, wild life andillustrations of battle fronts. Some paintings also

illustrated lo*ers in warm positions.Style of Mughal School of Paintings

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Mughal School of Painting during BaburBabur inherited an artistic taste. He was a great lo*er of art.

$lowers, streams and springs fascinated him. %aintings in 0lwarmanuscript of %ersian *ersion of Babur-s Memoirs ma representthe tpe of wor! his court painters created.

Mughal School of Painting during Humayun2hen Humaun returned to abul from %ersia, he in*ited Mir

Saad 0li and 0bdus Samad and re4uested to illustrate 5astan6i60mir Ham(ah. Because of his earl demise, great painting wor!scouldn-t be completed.

Mughal School of Painting during Akbar%ainting reached great heights during 0!bar-s reign. He created a

painting department. He called painters from e*er part of Indiaand abroad. It is belie*ed that he had an album of portraits.7minent painters during his reign included Mir Saad 0li, 0bdusSamad, 5aswant, Basawan, Tara Chand, 8agannath and Sanwal5as.9aldaman, :amaana, ;afarnama, :a(manamah, Chingi(nama and

aladaman were illustrated during his tenure.

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Mughal School of Painting during Jahangir

He ga*e great impetus to painting. He was himself a prudentcollector, an enthusiast and an art critic. It was during his timewhen the Miniature paintings reached the pinnacle of glor.Celebrated painters of his time included Mohammad 9adir,Manohar, $arru!h Beg, esha* Brothers, 04a :i(a, Bishan 5as,

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Mughal School of Painting during Shah Jahan%ainting didn-t recei*e much encouragement during his reign as hewas more towards architecture. 0nupa Chitra, Mir Hasan andChintamani were among the few notable painters. 0t this time 5araShi!oh and 0saf han patroni(ed painting.

Mughal School of Painting during Aurangzeb0urang(eb also didn-t gi*e momentum to painting.

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The %ersian master artists 0bdus Samad and Mir Said 0li,who had accompanied Humaun to India, were in charge ofthe imperial atelier during the earl formati*e stages ofMughal painting, but large numbers of artists wor!ed onlarge commissions, the maorit of them apparentl Hindu,to udge b the names recorded.

Mughal painting "ourished during the late 1#th and earl1@th centuries with spectacular wor!s of art b masterartists such as Basawan, &al, Mis!in, esu 5as, and5aswanth.

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This illustration from the0!barnama is the left6handside of a double pagecomposition +the other half

is IS.A>61D# depicting0!bar ta!ing part in a4amargah. This is aspectacular hunt wherebthe game is dri*en towardsthe centre of a ten mile

circular area so that theemperor and his entouragecould hunt and !ill theanimals. It is one of the/nest hunting scenes in the=E0 0!barnama paintings

and features the earl wor!of the artist Mansur, who

0B0: H

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8ehangir Holding The Flobe

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%ainting of Inaat han ding, ca. 1#1

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0 red6headed *ulture,set in pro/le, is perchedon a cragg

outcropping. Beside itstands the long6billed*ulture, seemingl"oating against a washof brown. Both loomlarge against a

con*entionalbac!ground of roc!s ands!. Bands of calligraphset in cloud li!ecartouches span the topand bottom of the

painting, which is setwithin a sumptuous

RedHeaded !ulture and "ongBilled!ulture# "eaf from the Shah JahanAlbum,Mughal, period of 8ahangir +1#A@, ca.

1#1AB MansurIndiaIn!, opa4ue watercolor, and gold on paper

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Bust $ainting of %ur&ahan'()*

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Portraits Of Jahangir And Shah Jahan'+),-nk. o$a/ue 0atercolour. and gold on $a$

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$ramed within elaboratel painted and illuminated borders and mounted on an albumpage /lled with *egetal design in gold, these portraits of two of the greatest Mughalemperors illustrate the contrast in the artistic con*entions under each of their reigns. Thepainted bust of 8ahangir +r. 1#6A@ C7, the fourth ruler of the dnast and the son of

0!bar +r. 1#61# C7, represents the miniature portraits that became fashionable forimportant /gures to wear during this emperor-s reign. The trend began after 1#1 C7,when miniature portraits were introduced to India from 7ngland b Sir Thomas :oe +2elchand 2elch 1DA, p. A1J Canb 1DD, p. 1K3. The artistic stle under 8ahangir is wellrepresented b the artist Balchand, !nown for his abilit to capture the more emotionaland Lhuman 4ualities of subects in his paintings +2elch and 2elch 1DA, p. A1.Balchand identi/es himself through a %ersian inscription on 8ahangir-s left shoulder>Lrasm-iNthe drawing ofO Balchand. The portrait of Shah 8ahan +r. 1#A6 C7, 8ahangir-sson and successor, pro*ides a star! contrast to the image of his father. 2hile both sitters

are shown in pro/le *iew and are illuminated b the golden halo around their heads, thestandard con*ention for representing Mughal emperors, Shah 8ahan-s larger, o*al6shapedportrait commands a more public *iewing audience. The illustration of the later emperor-storso allows the artist to show Shah 8ahan holding attributes that smboli(e his power,such as his sword and the oPcial seal in his hand. The seal inscription, deliberatel madelegible +in re*erse mirror image for the *iewer, lists the emperor-s titles> LAbul-MuzafarMuhammad Shihab al-Din Shah Jahan Padshah-i Ghazi Sahib Qiran-i Thani 1. SheilaCanb has suggested that the last title, LSahib Qiran-i Thani +the Second &ord of the0stral conunction, refers to Timur +r. 13@61K C7, the founder of the Timurid dnast

from which the Mughals were descended +Canb 1DD, p. 1K3. This connection to thegreatest Timurid ruler would ha*e helped Shah 8ahan legitimise his right to the thronefollowing his father-s death. The iconic, ideali(ed courtl stle of Shah 8ahan-s era isalread apparent at the start of his reignJ the painting is signed and dated in the /rst earof the emperor-s rule to the left of the portrait b 9adir al6;aman, !nown as 0bu-l6Hasan>LIt was painted at the beginning of the blessed ascension ? %resented for the appraisal ofthe most pure ? the wor! of the humblest of ser*ants, 9adir al6;aman. The emperor isshown in strict pro/le, staring blan!l ahead while co*ered in precious, easil identi/ed

ewels. In contrast to the naturalistic rendering of his father, whose facial features are

carefull modelled and suggest a three6dimensional appearance, Shah 8ahan-s image hasbecome iconic and creates a greater distance between the *iewer and the sitter. These

Portraits Of Jahangir And Shah Jahan

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Portrait Of Bahadur shah',12

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