Mughal Miniature Tradition:

Akbari
History of the Imperial Legacy
 Akbar (1556–1605)
• Court historian Abu’l Fazl ibn Mubarak documented the emperor Akbar’s personal interest
in the art of painting:
‘His Majesty, from his earliest youth, has shewn a great predilection for this art, and gives it
every encouragement….
Hence the art flourishes, and many painters have obtained great reputation.’
• Akbar was dyslexic himself but hugely interested in gaining knowledge and regularly
listened to readings. He therefor made huge investments for his imperial library.
• established a formal artistic studio, led by Iranian artists brought to the subcontinent by his
father Humayun.
• Here, painters and calligraphers collaborated and produced illustrated manuscripts and
individual works including portraits. Primarily, these works were produced for the
emperor’s private library, though princes and notable courtiers were also patrons of the
arts.
• Akbar invested considerable energy into the artistic studio that he established, known as
the tasvir khana.
• It was led by eminent Iranian artists, but Akbar also recruited Hindu and Muslim artists
from across the continent.
• At its peak, the royal studio employed more than 100 artists of varying skill.
• The initial eclectic range of styles harmoniously merged into a clearly identifiable Mughal Abul Fasl Presenting
style. Akbarnama to Akbar
 Akbar’s commissions
• Akbar an ardent believer in cultural and religious synthesis, had a remarkable catholicity to
brush aside the prevalent Islamic orthodoxy and to look at the art of painting, as ‘an antidote
against the poison of ignorance’.
• Major projects included the epic Hamzanama or the Dāstān-e Amīr Ḥamzeh (Story of Amir
Hamza) and Tutinama, literal meaning "Tales of a Parrot", is a 14th-century Persian series of 52
stories. These manuscripts form the early Mughal style.
• The other are histories of the reigns of Akbar and Babur, Baburnama & Akbarnama
• Besides are the smaller projects on Persian classics by the poets Nizami, Jami and Hafiz.
• Even the Persian translations of the Sanskrit epics Mahabharata Ramayana and Harivamsha
were illustrated too.
• Most of the individual paintings and illustrations found in manuscripts are painted on paper
using opaque watercolours (mineral and earth pigments mixed with gum arabic as a binding
medium), often highlighted with gold and/or silver.
• It is worth remembering that the miniatures reflect the culture of the court at Delhi; hence, for
example, the architecture of Central Asian cities resembles the architecture of Mughal India.
 Imperial and sub-imperial manuscripts:
• Besides Akbar’s own collection of books and manuscripts, illustrated books belonging to the personal library
of his mother, Empress Hamida Banu, have also survived.
• Amongst others, some of the sub-imperial patrons were Abdul Rahim Kkan-i-khannan, Mirza Aziz Koka, a
foster brother and Raja Man Singh. Their ateliers had painters and calligraphers belonging to a less
sophisticated cluster of Imperial workshop.
• Akbar encouraged such sub-imperial patronage and gifted copies of manuscripts based on his imperial
model to nobels.
• Multiple copies were made of Persian poetic and Persian translations of Indian texts, occasionally with
obvious differences in quality.
• These distinctions of subject and quality did not correspond to further ones involving choices in overall
style.
• Instead, imperial painters involved in every kind of project availed themselves of the most recent
developments in style, with the often markedly different levels of success apparently depending primarily
on the amount of time and talent they were able to invest.
Process of Painting under Mughals
• For fast and quality productions, the Safavid tradition of collective execution was adopted.
• The atelier was termed as Tasvirkhana or the royal painting bureau.
• Most paintings bear the signature of the record-keeper of the bureau.
• The records mention of tarrahi or the sketching, rang amezi or the colouring and chehranami or
chehrakushai i.e. revealing faces meaning portraits.
• The ustad did the initial drawing or tarh, then khurds or the tainees did the rang amezi or amal or
the colouring, ocassionally followed by a highly trained painter engaged in chehranami or
chehrakushai i.e. revealing faces meaning portraits. The final touch ups were reserved for the
master-painter himself. The system usually served the purpose.
• For this shared practice of execution, the atelier had an almost fixed repertoire of flora and fauna.
The preparatory drawings or pounces called charba were stored and made available for
recreations.
• The extent of collaboration in a painting usually was limited to two or three painters.
• Signatures by Akbari painters are rare, expect for Abdus Sammad and Keshu Das.
Early Mughal Paintings: Early Akbari Style
• Hamzanama illustrates the Adventures of Hamza Amir, an uncle
of the Prophet Muhammad.
• Hamza’s exploits are legend and the story-tellers often presented
him as an intrepid warrior who travelled the world intending to
spread the word of Islam.
• His adventures were many and varied, as he battled against
giants, demons and strange creatures.
• Hamzanama commissioned by Akbar is a series of unusually
large miniatures (22 by 28 inches [56 by 71 cm])and took artists
15 years (1557/8-72/3) to complete the 1,400 paintings.
• It was the first great project undertaken by Akbari atelier of
painters under the supervision of Mir Sayyid Ali and Abdus
Sammad.
• To meet the demand of the huge project, hundred odd
painters were recruited from pre-Mughal centers. Artists
were of varying talent.

• Here, "Hamza's Spies, Sent to Locate the Missing Malik Bahman,

Sneak Into the City of Qimar Where They Kill the Sleeping Guards."
Attributed to Dasavanta and Mukhlis; 1570; opaque watercolour and
gold on cotton; Austrian Museum of Applied Arts/Contemporary Art,
Vienna.
• Of the 200 or so that have survived are mostly at the Museum of
Applied Art in Vienna and The Victoria and Albert Museum .
• Hamzanama was in the newly evolved Mughal style which combining
elements from the regional traditions of the Indian subcontinent with
an Iranian features.
• The Persian influences were compositional framework and
distinctively Iranian motifs such as ornate architectural settings, finely
patterned carpets, roofs and tiles, fairies (peris), flowering cherry and
cypress trees.
• The richness of detail and bold blocks of colour spill over the pages
without much linear perspective.
• It expresses the fusion of lyrical Persian style with intensely symbolic
pre-Mughal style of north Indian, Rajasthan and Deccan.
• Persian traits are precise outlining or arqam, gem-like colours and
refinement of tonal values.
• While the preference for warm vermillion, yellow, darkgreen and rich
chocolate are closer to Chaurapanchasika tradition.
• Here, a Leviathan Attacks Hamza and His Men." Attributed to
Basavana and Shravana; volume and painting number unknown; India,
Mughal dynasty, circa 1567; opaque watercolour and gold on cotton;
private collection.
• A leaf from Hamzanama, the ‘wondrous book’.
• Such paintings were displayed during the public recitation of the
story (quissa). Know as Dastangoi, presented till date.
• The text, supporting the paiintings was put on the paper backing
of the next painting Paintings were mounted on tightly woven
cotton first.
• A mood of turmoil and excitement characterizes the entire series.
• The gesticulating figures are struck by innate sense on wonder.
• A spatial dimension was coupled with rendering of tress in free
and visible brushwork.
• The treatment of waters in swirling eddies, flecked with foam
and inhabited by large playful fish, crocodiels, turtles nd
imaginary sea-monsters- these eventually became a convention
of the style.

• Prophet Elias rescues Prince Nur-ud-Dahr. Folio

from Hamzanama. Early Mughal period (1562-1577)
• It was painted in the first five regnal years of Akbar (1555-1560).
• This illustrated version contained 250 miniature paintings was
painted by two Iranian artists named Mir Sayyid Ali and Abdus
Samad commissioned by the Mughal Emperor.
• Tutinama of Persia derives from a 12th century anthology ‘Seventy
Tales of the Parrot’ in Sanskrit compiled under the title Śukasaptati
(a part of katha literature).
• The adventure stories narrated by a parrot, night after night, for 52
successive nights, are moralistic stories to persuade his owner not
to commit any adulterous act with any lover, in the absence of her
husband. A Leaf from Tutinama, 1555–1560
• In the fifty-two stories that a parrot tells his mistress, Khojasta, to
detain her from leaving home to meet with a lover during her
husband's absence.
• In Iran, as in India, parrots (in light of their purported
conversational abilities) are popular as storytellers in works of
fiction.

• The Persian text on this page identifies it as the forty-fifth story; the
parrot tells Khojasta about a cunning snake, thereby advising his
mistress to avoid deception.
 Mature Akbari Style: Since 1580s
Mughal style developed into a highly painterly through a manuscripts on subjects ranging
from Persian poetic classics, histories, biographies to translations of traditional Indian texts.
Akbar shifted capital to Lahore from Fatehpur Sikri in 1585
Akbar returned to Agra in 1598

(A) Hindu Literature: Razmnama, Harivamsa & Mahabharata

• As part of his policy of reconciliation between Muslims and Hindus, Emperor Akbar had the Hindu classics
translated into the Persian, the language of the court and illustrated by his court artists.
• For the emperor, the Hindu painters recreated images of deeply-etched visions on the myths.
• The Mahabharata was entitled in Persian as Razmnama or The Book of Wars.
• The imperial Razmnama (1582-86) is an outstanding series of illustrations prepared by the front-ranking
painters.
• In 1586, the Persian translation of Harivamsa Puran or (A chronology of Yadavas and the deeds of Krishna) was
illustrated, again for the imperial library.
• It was followed by the Ramayan (1589) and Yoga-Vasishtha (1598).
Fattu, the artist of the Razmndmap age, begins the spatial
simplification of his scene by ridding the courtyard of its
foreground w all. In this compressed courtyard he places a
hexagonal pavilion, an architectural form common in Mughal
painting, but makes little attempt to provide it with the
three-dimensionality that his counterpart in the Akbarnama
does. It is likely that this decision was precipitated by Fattu's
recognition of the limitations of his technical ability, which are
readily apparent in the unwieldy form of the gateway to the
rear. Likewise, after reducing the number of figures by half,
Fattu strips much of the detail from their faces and clothing.
The figures become virtually uniform in age and facial shape,
and their clothes lose all sense of pliancy.

Krsna reconciles Yudhisthira and Arjuna. By Fattu.

1598-99 Razmndma. Ashmolean Museum, 22 x I3 cm.
• Here is a battle scene from Harivamsa with mass of warriors
where opposing armies fright.
• The recession of space is conveyed.
• The crowd in the foreground is articulated through the
contrastling patterns, colour, and tone.
• The blue-skinned Krishna stands aiming his arrow at the
enemy in a comparative uncluttered middle ground.
• While the back-ground is concluded through a deep
landscape in which opposing troops gather.
• No atmospheric recession or chiaroscuro is yet seen, they
are soon to be adopted from European prints.

Krishna and Balarama fight the enemy, from probably Lahore,

Harivamsa, Ink, opaque watercolour, and gold on paper, 29.4 x
19.9 cm
• The god Krishna protects the people of Braj against the destructive rain
sent by the god Indra.
• To protect his followers from the wrath of the rival God Indra, who has
conjured up a holocaust, Krishna lifts Mount Goverdhan like some huge
umbrella.
• The villagers and their herds evoke today's India and must have been
even more familiar to sixteenth-century viewers.
• Such pictures were intended by Akbar to explain Hinduism to his
Muslim courtiers, and thereby instill them with religious toleration.
• The artist, therefore, has made every effort to lend credibility to the
God's miracle.
• Akbar assigned one of his most orthodox Muslim men of letters to
translate the Harivamsa --Badaoni.
• This delightful painting, with its humorously characterized people and
animals, is attributed to Miskin.

Krishna Govardhandhara, attributed to Miskin , Harivamsa: The Legend of

Hari (Krishna), Illustrated detached folio,. Ink and colors on paper; 11 3/8 x
7 7/8 in. (28.9 x 20 cm).
Outstanding portrayal of the palace in order to depict the
Golden City of Dwarka

Krishna and the Golden City of Dwarka, Harivamsha

(Geneology of Vishnu,) also commissioned by Akbar. 1585.
Ramayana painting, Rama and his brother with monkey army,
ca. Akbar period, 1595
(B) Non-Hindu Texts illustrated
• The following are the biographical/historical/ semi-historical texts:
• Tarikh-i-Khandan-i-Timuriya The history of Timur Clan
• Tarikh-i-Alfi the history of One thousand Years
• Shahnama The Persian Book of Kings
• Darabnama The Tales of Darab
• Baburnama The Memoirs of Babur

• The illustrations of this phase have a strong element of realism and a plethora details which ultimately
culminated into the Akbarnama of 1590s.

• The following are the illustrated renditions of Persian poetic texts under Akbar’s Patronage
• Sadi’s Gulstan
• Khamsa of Nizami
• Jami’s Baharistan and
• Divan of Hifiz and Anvari
 Baburnama
• Akbar had commissioned to prepare an illustrated copy of the
Persian translation of his grand-father’s memoirs, the Baburnama
also known as the Tuzuk-i-Baburi or the Waqiyat-i-Baburi. The
original was in Chaghtai Turkish, the language of Babur’s
Central Asian homeland.
• Fascinated by the translation by Abdur Rahim Khan-i-Khanan, he
established a special atelier or tasvirkhana and invited two Iranian
artists, Mir Sayyid Ali and Abd-as-Samad to illustrate the text
with paintings with the help of local artists.
• Forty-nine artists worked on this set, including great names such
as Daulat, Bhawani, Mansur, Miskin and Farrukh Chela.
• Baburnama can be divided into three broad sections.
• More than a historical record of the life of an exceptional ruler,
the Baburnama is valued by scholars and historians as a
meticulous record of the life and style of that age.

Babur celebrates the birth of Humayun in the Chahar Bagh of Kabul

(1508), an illustration to the memoirs of the Emperor Babur, 'Vaqi
'at-i Baburi', by Sur Gujarati, c.1590
• The Baburnama paintings were done towards the end of the
sixteenth century and are believed to belong to the mature phase of
the Akbar period when Mughal art was still deeply influenced by
Persian art.

• This beautifully illustrated manuscript in the Nasta’liq script is

dated 1598 and consists of 378 folios with 145 illustrations. Its cover
page bears the signature of the Mughal Emperor Shahjahan.
• Its jewel-like illustrations provide fascinating accounts not just of battles,
but the topography of the conquered land, its flora and fauna and the
new and interesting sights that Babur encountered in life.
• Though retaining the upright format, general setting, and flat aerial
perspective of Persian painting, the Indian artists of Akbar’s court
exhibited an increasing naturalism and detailed observation of the world
around them.

Babur slays a wild ass, Baburnama, 1590, Opaque watercolour on paper

Folio 13 5/8 x 9 inch, Miniature 9 5/8 x 5 5/8 inch
Images of Baburnama

Left:
Sultan Said Khan and Baba Khan
Sultan paying homage to Babur
near Ferghana (1502), Baburnama,
Jamal (1597/98), National
Museum

The scene is during Babur’s

sudden meet with his uncle Kichik
Khan at Yaghma. It is noted in the
memoir that Kichik Khan had
ordered Sultan Said Khan and Baba
Khan Sultan to dismount, kneel
and meet Babur.
 Poetic texts and their
illustrations:
• Persian poetical texts were almost always smaller affairs, usually
decorated with fewer but more refined images produced by artists
working alone.
• Multiple copies were made of these and indian texts, occasionally with
obvious differences in quality.
• These distinctions of subject and quality did not correspond to further
ones involving choices in overall style.
• Instead, imperial painters involved in every kind of project availed
themselves of the most recent developments in style, with the often
markedly different levels of success apparently depending primarily on
the amount of time and talent they were able to invest.
• This is the colophon page of an imperial volume of the Khamsa (Five
poems) by the poet Nizami made for the emperor Akbar.
• It features the features the portraits of the scribe 'Abd al-Rahim
'Anbarinqalam ('Sweet-pen') and the artist Daulat.
• This manuscript was copied by 'Anbarinqalam in 1595-96 and features
42 illustrations by master artists of the Mughal studio.
• There were several fables, like Panchatantra, illustrated too
• Such Anvar-i Suhayli ('Lights of Canopus')
• `Iyar-i Danesh: ('Pearls of Wisdom')A simpler version of the
same stories for his young sons

• Animal fables, in which animals enact stories with moral endings,

were a traditional and entertaining way to teach young princes
the elements of wise statecraft and the pitfalls of human nature.
• The Mughal emperor Akbar was particularly fond of the genre,
and ordered such illustrated copies.
• An empathy for animals is evident in the illustrations of the
animal fables, particularly the Kalīlah wa Dimnah and the Anwār-
e Suhaylī.
• A throng of creatures from the earth, sea and air gathers around
a rocky outcrop to listen to the wise crow, perched on the peak.
Among them are dragons, cheetahs, crocodiles, vultures, frogs,
scorpions and a simurgh (a mythical bird). This may be an
episode from the popular fable of the crows and the owls, whose
enmity begins when a crow speaks out against the election of an
owl as the leader of the animals.

The crow addresses the animals, (attributed to) Miskin, a mounted

miniature in gouache on paper, around AD 1600
 The Grand Project: Akbarnama
• Akbar’s fondness for history resulted in his commissioning of such dynamic
illustrated histories as the Akbar-nāmeh (“History of Akbar”), many images
of which is at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
• The Akbarnama was commissioned to the court historian and biographer
Abu'l Fazl around 1590, as an official chronicle of his reign and illustrated
during the same decade by at least forty-nine different artists from Akbar's
studio.
• After Akbar's death, the manuscript remained in the library of his son,
Jehangir.
• It is thought to be the first illustrated copy of the Akbarnama.
• It drew upon the expertise of some of the best royal painters of the time,
many of whom receive special mention by Abu'l Fazl in the A'in-i-Akbari.
• The inscriptions in red ink on the bottom of the paintings refer to the artists
and indicate that this was a royal copy.

Akbar's household rejoicing at the birth of his second son, Murad, at Fatehpur
Sikri, in 1570, from the 'Akbarnama', Mughal, Anonymous
This painting shows the burning (jauhar) of the Rajput women
following the fall of the fortress of Chitor in 1568.
The women preferred to be burned to death rather than being
captured by the enemy. It is thought that as many as three hundred
women died during this event.

The burning of the Rajput women during the siege of Chitor

Painting from the Akbarnama, Opaque watercolour and gold on paper
Possibly Delhi, Agra or Fatehpur Sikri, India, 1590-1595
Having failed to take the great fortress of Chitor by direct assault,
Akbar decided to use mines
Painting from the Akbarnama
Composition by Miskina, colours and details painted by Bhurah
Opaque watercolour and gold on paper
Possibly Delhi, Agra or Fatehpur Sikri, India, 1590-1595

The picture illustrates a scene that took place during the prolonged
attack on the Rajasthani fortress of Chitor by the Mughal army. The
covered lines of attack built by the Mughals allow the army,
including armoured elephants (centre left) to approach the walls of
the fortress (shown upper left). Akbar is shown top right, holding
the gun called Sangram with which he has just shot a figure in a
studded coat. The figure is Jaimal, the general of the enemy army,
and the fortress submitted soon afterwards to the Mughal forces.
The Capture of Jalalabad, 1564
from the Akbarnama
Qambar Ali, governor of the fort of Jalalabad, submits within the walls of
the fort before being beheaded.
Elsewhere this is listed as: An episode at the reoccupation of Kabul by
Mirza Muhammad Hakim (Akbar’s brother) in 1564
Outline by La’l, painting by Ram Das. V&A Museum.
Battle Scene with Boats on the Ganges, 1565
from the Akbarnama
Shuja’at Khan pursuing Asaf Khan on the River Ganges in north-
east India. Asaf Khan was vizier to the Mughal emperor Akbar
(r.1556–1605). He was also a highly effective military leader
but, for reasons that are obscure in the text of the Akbarnama,
kept treasure that the Mughal forces had seized during a
successful campaign in 1565. He tried to flee with his
supporters across the Ganges, where Akbar’s forces, led by the
general Shuja’at Khan, caught up with him. A fierce
confrontation followed, depicted in this illustration, but Asaf
Khan escaped. In 1567, he sent messengers to the court asking
for forgiveness, which was granted.
By the Mughal court artists Tulsi the Elder and Jagjivan. V & A
Museum.
Akbar Tames the Savage Elephant, Hawa'i, Outside the Red
Fort at Agra, miniature from the Akbarnama of Abul Fazl,
c.1590 (left hand side of double page miniature, see 4042)
(gouache on paper), Basawan and Chatai (fl.1590) / British
Museum, London, UK / The Bridgeman Art Library
This painting depicts the discovery in 1567 of the
decapitated head of the rebel Khan Zaman. He was
repeatedly disloyal to the Mughal emperor Akbar (r.1556–
1605) and a reward was offered to anyone who brought
his head to the emperor. Eventually, Khan Zaman’s head
was found lying under a tree, as shown here.
By the Mughal court artists Kesav Kalan and Chetar
Muni. V&A museum.
2 Parts of a double-page
composition. It illustrates an
incident when a mine exploded
during the Mughal attack on the
Rajput fortress of Chitor
(Chittaurgarh) in north-west
India in 1567, killing many of
the besieging Mughal forces.
In right side Mughal sappers are
shown preparing covered paths
to enable the army to approach
the fortress, while their
opponents fiercely defend
themselves. Composition
designed by the Mughal court
artist Miskina, with details
painted by Bhura for the left side
and Sarwan for the right side V
& A Museum.
Hamid Bhakari punished by Akbar, Akbarnama, probably from
Lahore, (1604), attributed to Manohar, Ink, opaque,
watercolour,and gold on paper, 22.6 x 13 cm.
After 1578, Akbar stopped hunting repulsed
by a frightened nilgai during a hunt.
European prints and their
influence
• As early as the 1560s, European emissaries and missionaries brought to
India as curiosities and religious propaganda examples of European
prints, which made their way into the hands of imperial artists and began
to inspire a modest suggestion of the effect of light on form, a notion
completely alien to both the Persian and Indian traditions.
• Jesuits and Dominican missionaries visited Fatehpur Sikri several times
between 1580 abd 1605.
• In 1580, Akbar was gifted seven of eight volumes of Biblia Regia or the
Royal Polyglot Bible. It is also known as Plantiana after the printer
Christopher Plantin and was printed between 1568 and 1572 at the
request of Prince Phillip II of Spain.
• Printed in large folio volumes in four ancient languages, the Bible was
characterized by “an unprecedented use of engravings as text
illustrations.”
Pietatis Concordiae, (Title page of first volume of Biblia Sacra: Hebrace,
Chaldice, Graece & Latin, “Royal Polyglot Bible,” edited by Benito Arias
“Montano”) Pieter van der Heyden after an anonymous artist ,Antwerp: C.
Plantin, 1569, Engraving, roughly 37.8 x 24.5 cm
Biblioteca Nacional, Madrid, Spain
In many ways motifs seen in this illustrated page resurfaced in
various Mughal paintings of this period, especially in the
treatment of landscape. The four animals—the ox, lion, lamb, and
wolf—were used to illustrate the peace that prevailed under the
Messianic rule as prophesized by Isaiah.
Engravings of Albrecht Durer ()1471-1528) had reached the
Mughal courts among other prints, which were a source of
inspiration for painters like Basavan, Miskin and Kesu Das.

European Scene, 1600, Akbar period, Patan, Gujarat

Opaque watercolour and ink, 33.5 x 20.8 cm
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond
Neem kalam
• Here is an example of monochromatic nim-kalam or syah kalam, an influence of the
prints, rendered in black, umber and burnt sienna.
• Lines were supported by soft layers of washes

• Further relieved with stippling (pardaz), parallel lines( khat pardaz), crossed
lines(jalidar pardaz) and dots (dana prdaz).

• By the end of the sixteenth century, a number of Mughal artists had absorbed some
European conventions for the rendering of volume and pictorial depth, and had
conveyed the usefulness of such devices to some of their fellow artists.
• Shortly after the beginning of the seventeenth century, other Mughal painters had
even begun to adopt elements of European symbolic vocabulary.
• Nevertheless, European art remained a minor component of Mughal art because it
was a fundamentally deracinated style.
Akbar’s Atelier
The workshop included both Muslim and Hindu painter, Hindus had outnumbered the Muslims.

• Mir Sayyid Ali of Tabriz (b. 1513, Judai, pen name)

• Son of Mir Mussavir
• Patroned by Safavid (Shahnama for Shah Tahmasp), Humayun and Akbar
• Main project: Hamzanama
• in-charge till 1572
• Skilled calligrapher, brush strokes full of flow and vigour
• Extraordinary visual memory
• Descriptive details beyond the narrative
• Others studies his sketching of textures of costumes, ornaments and still-lifes
• Considered ‘this world as the reflection of the divine world’

• Abdus Sammad or Abd’l Samad of Shiraz, often called Khwaja

• Persian elements predominate during the development of the Mughal Style
• Charge of director in 1572
• trained painters like Dasavanta and Basavan
• Unaffected by the movement, plasticity and psychology of Mughal idiom
• Placidity, dispassionate and clarity were his virtues
• Prefered darker tonalities later
Akbar’s Atelier continued…
• Basavan, master designer , also appointed Finance Minister of Province of Multan in 1588
• Natural flair, painterly than linear
• Worked for four decades, matured in 1580s, active till 1615
• Rational, analyst of personality but also a story-teller
• Enjoyed colouring parts that appealed to him though rarely worked as a colorist
• Persuaviceness as dramatist
• Yet had serious concerns for pure paintings
• Skillful layouts as well as portrait artist
• Interest in European prints and adopted recession and roundness of forms
• Many works in nim-kalam

• Daswant
• strong imaginative expression

• Manohar, Basavan’s son, career between 1582-1620

• Moved away from his father’s nim kalam and preferred colourful compositions
• Stressed surface designs than spatial value, glorifying courtly pomp and magnificence
• Emerged as portrait artist and executed superb historical group portraitures
• Kesu Das or Kesu Kalan, (Kesu the eleder), active till 1590s
• Uncontested technical mastery
• Highly detailed landscape
• Deft handling of human figure
• Invariably signed his paintings in obscure places, like on a vase, or ewer or on
knotty branch of a large tree

• Miskin, son of master painter, Mahesh, active between 1580-1600

• Created some crucial scenes of Akbarnama
• Most understanding animal painter Akbar had
• Created dead animals- expressedly tragic object for contemplation
• Hidden animal forms in rocks
• Small details with animals or birds
 Features of Akbari Painting:
• Mughal artists were inclined to temper the Persian predilection for brilliant, pure hues with earthier tones
and rudimentary modeling.
• Not knowing the science of perspective Almost all, superficially blended linear perspective to arieal
persipective often for the continuity of narrative.

• Artists trained in local Indian traditions occasionally reverted to old habits of distributing hot colors in large
flat patches uninterrupted by the minute patterns in which Persian-trained artists characteristically reveled.

• Indigenous Indian elements features began to intrude upon well-established visual conventions: Indian
plants cropped up in Persianate fields and gardens, indigenous creatures were admitted to ranks of the
pictorial animal kingdom, and dark-skinned figures, commonly associated with India, assumed a much
broader range of roles.

• The investigation of the natural world became a quintessential feature of Mughal painting which is quiet
different from the indigenous pre-Mughal traditions. The portrayal of facial features throbbing with vital
energy enhanced the impact of the narratives.
• Portraits (shabih) with a passionate enquiry into the specific appearances
and personalities of courtiers and grandees were prepared as
independent compositions for albums.

• No matter what their source, Mughal figures seem more animated than
their Persian or Indian counterparts, an effect achieved primarily through
a set of increasingly explicit and individualized facial expressions, and
secondarily through ever more demonstrative poses and gestures.

• The traditional Indian female type in profile view, present sporadically in

Islamic painting, and was occasionally accompanied by male figures with
the typically squat proportions and angular profiles of indigenous
painting.

• Another radical change was the painter’s interest in the minutiae.

• Artists began to create pockets of deep space in the upper reaches of
the compositions described earlier by employing an abruptly graduated
figure scale and the European device of atmospheric perspective, which
reduced distant ranges of tiny trees to tints of blue and green; by the
1590os,these areas were integrated regularly with the foreground and
middle ground, in which the action transpired.

• Mughal painters also continued to elaborate the volumetric rendering

of form, particularly in clothing and architecture, and expanded the
range of facial expressions.

• The development of ‘Popular Mughal’ idiom during the late 16th and
early 17th century makes an interesting study as it is strongly expressive
and animated, very often revert to Pre-Mughal types of composition.