From the sixteenth century onwards, Indian art from the royal courts serves as pictorial evidence of the country’s opulence, and cultural sophistication. The early paintings from the Mughal court depicting Emperor Babur and his son Humayun are simple portraits of them sitting on slightly raised platforms or rugs with manuscripts, pen boxes, some fruits in their front and huge Mughal cushions behind them. The paintings from Emperor Akbar and Jehangir show the development of art with artists like Abd al-Samad, Bichitra, Dasvant and Basavan and others depicting court scenes, ceremonies, hunts, battles. The Persian influence in these paintings cannot be denied if one considers the accompanying text in Persian and the exquisitely finished borders. The splendour of the Mughal court is defined by the paintings from the period of Shah Jahan and later emperors because they feature the famed Peacock Throne, which was carried off to Persia in 1739 by Nadir Shah. A 1774 painting of Gentil Album, Faizabad featuring an unknown emperor shows the marvellous throne placed on a raised marble platform in its entirety.
According to an extract from Nizamuddin Ahmad Bakshi’s Tabakat-i-Akbari in The History of India as Told by Its Own Historians, edited by HM Elliot and J Dowson, “This throne was completed in the course of seven years at a cost of 100 lacs of rupees. Among the jewels set in this recess was a ruby worth a lac of rupees, which Shah Abbas, King of Iran, had presented to the late Emperor Jehangir, who presented it to his present Majesty, the Sahib Kirani-saini[Shah Jahan], when he accomplished the conquest of the Dakhin. On it were engraved the names of Sahib-kiran (Timur), Mir Shah Rukh, and Mirza Ulugh Baig.”
Later Mughal paintings depart from the simplicity of early paintings with gardens serving as backgrounds for an unmatched splendour with emperors depicted sitting on the Peacock Throne made of gold studded with precious stones and surrounded by noblemen and courtiers. These paintings show significant improvement in the skills of artists as they began employing techniques of linear perspective and making three-dimensional images.
Fusion of cultures
The depiction of royal courts across different regions in India was imitation of the Mughal style of painting. The Rajasthani painting in the later years of its development evolved from the “Western Indian manuscript illustration” due to Mughal influence. The Rajputs were commissioning paintings and portraits that carried the feel of Mughal miniature, which despite being divorced from the verisimilitude of the European art had a distinct quality about it.
The majority of Sikh historical paintings are exact replicas of Mughal miniatures in nature, style and form because that was the dominant art of the day. They do bring new elements to the fore like the introduction of dancing girls at the court, which are missing in the Mughal court paintings that mostly serve as historical evidence of important occasions like enthronements, birthdays, emperor giving robe of honour to a noble, etc. The influence of Mughal paintings reached Europe when Dutch artist Rembrandt derived inspiration from them and created a series on Mughal emperors, nobles, courtiers and womenfolk. The artist may have come in contact with Mughal miniatures through cultural exchange due to the growing trade between the Dutch East India Company and Mughal India.
European influence
A 1925 painting (Company school) by William Rothenstein showing Sir Thomas Roe addressing Emperor Jehangir at the Mughal court in Ajmer on 10 January 1616 was put on display in the parliament of the United Kingdom in 2017 as part of “The Building of Britain” series depicting key historic events in British history. Roe arrived in India as the ambassador of James I in September of 1615 when Jehangir, who was a great patron of art and exceedingly proud of his atelier, was in the tenth year of his reign. He brought along with diplomatic gifts for the emperor some English paintings, which impressed the latter very much. Jehangir after inspecting the paintings expressed absolute certainty that his accomplished artists could easily make copies of English paintings.
This was the period when Mughal art began evolving due to the elements of perspective in depictions, and moved towards realism of European art.
The paintings that serve as a point of reference in this regard were commissioned by Jehangir between 1615 and 1618. One of them shows Jehangir sitting on top of an hourglass-shaped throne, presenting a book to an old, white-bearded Sufi Shaikh (believed to be the caretaker of the dargah at Ajmer). This painting features an Ottoman sultan, James I of England, one of the leading artists in Jehangir’s atelier, Bichitr, who made the painting, and some angels wishing a long life to the emperor. The painting shows that Jehangir favoured spirituality over worldly power as opposed to the two monarchs.
A later painting that serve best as pictorial evidence of the arrogance and pomposity of later Mughal emperors is attributed to artist Bhavani Das, who painted the court scene on the occasion of Azim us-Shan’s enthronement. The painting shows the emperor, whose ephemeral reign lasting less than a month ended with his death on the battlefield, receiving a sword and dagger from a popular Islamic figure Khwaja Khizr dressed in green. Azim-us-Shan was the second son of Bahadur Shah I (also known as Shah Alam I), successor of Aurangzeb, who is often depicted in paintings mounted on a horse going for expeditions.
It is important to look at the Azim us-Shan enthronement painting (1712), whose real name was Azim-ud-din, because it conveys that Mughal art during this period had reached its zenith. The golden throne the emperor occupies is probably the Peacock Throne. And he was declared king in Lahore after the death of his father in the royal camp, so the possibilities of the painting posthumously commissioned by his successors are high.
The richness and exuberance of Mughal miniature made it the dominant art movement in the country for centuries, which became the common pictorial language of Indian rulers. The arrival of the British, who brought new sensibilities to the country, put a halt to the development of Mughal art and enabled the transition to Company style, which was more suited to the changing times.
