Art and Culture Class 12: The Mughal School of Miniature Painting

Somewhere in the sixteenth century began a new style of painting that gave birth to the Mughal school of miniature painting. This era of Mughal Paintings flourished and continued till the mid-nineteenth century.

Mughal Paintings:

The Mughal artists combined three different styles, namely indigenous, Persian and European, making the Mughal Art School a melting pot of vibrant styles of its time yet very distinct in its own way.

Key Features of Mughal Paintings:

1. Mughal paintings were made on handmade paper.
2. The colours used were opaque, and the Mughals obtained them from natural sources by grinding and mixing pigments.
3. Paintbrushes of varying sizes and types were made that utilised the hair of squirrels or kittens.
4. Mughal paintings were made in workshops, which were a combined effort of a group of artists. The process involved basic draft drawing, grinding and finally filling in colours.
5. Names of master artists were recorded in the royal atelier, which indicated the position they enjoyed in court.
6. Gold and silver powders were mixed with colours or sprinkled to add extravagance to the Mughal paintings.

Influences on Mughal Painting:

1. Mughal art style did not grow in a vacuum; it was nurtured by direct interaction with other art forms and schools in India.
2. The Mughals brought many artists from Iran during the early years of Mughal Paintings, which resulted in a harmonious blend of Indo-Iranian styles.
3. Mughal paintings presented a highly sophisticated culmination of the Hindu, Islamic and European visual culture and aesthetics.

Contributions of Mughal Emperors in Early Mughal Painting

Babur: 

1. In 1526, Babur, the first Mughal emperor who came from present-day Uzbekistan, blended the aesthetics of Persia and Central Asia.
2. Babur’s detailed accounts in Baburnama are narratives of the emperor’s political career and artistic passion.
3. Some of the famous Artists of the Mughal School of Miniature Painting are Bihzad and Shah Muzaffar.
4. Babur had a keen eye for portraiture, which is recorded in his memoirs.

Humayun:

1. During his reign, Humayun invited two Persian artists in his Indian Court: Mir Sayyid Ali and Abdus Samad, to establish a studio in his court and carry out royal paintings.
2. He founded the Nigaar Khana – painting workshop.
3. Humayun was instrumental in starting the illustration project of Hamza Nama that his son and successor Akbar continued.
4. Mughal paintings, which include themes such as open-air paintings with trees, were patronised by Humayun.

Akbar: 

1. Abul Fazl, the court historian of Akbar, wrote about Akbar’s passion for the arts.
2. During Akbar’s reign, great emphasis was laid on the illustration of manuscripts.
3. Akbar carried his father’s artistic legacy forward. He created an illustrated account of the heroic deeds of Hamza, the uncle of Prophet Muhammad, which came to be known as Hamza Nama.
4. Flora and Fauna depicted the themes of Mughal miniature paintings during Akbar’s reign.
5. Through paintings, Akbar envisioned cultural integration and commissioned the translation of Mahabharat, Ramayana.
6. Artists like Govardhan and Miskin were celebrated for their visuals of court scenes during Akbar’s reign.
7. Akbar Nama, an extraordinary manuscript, contained a detailed account of Akbar’s political and personal life.
8. ‘Madonna and Child (1580)’, an important early work of the Mughal School of Miniature Painting, brings Byzantine art, the European classical and its Renaissance to the Mughal atelier.

Jahangir:

1. Prince Salim (Jahangir) showed interest in art from an early age.
2. Jahangir employed Aqa Riza, an Iranian artist and his son Abul Hasan to achieve unparalleled sophistication in Mughal art.
3. Under Jahangir’s patronage, Mughal art achieved naturalism and scientific accuracy of the highest degree.
4. Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri talks about Jahangir’s interest in arts.
5. Individual Mughal paintings known as ‘The Muraqqas’ became popular under Jahangir’s patronage.
6. Jahangir came in contact with Europeans, which has been duly reflected in the Mughal paintings of his reign.
7. ‘Jahangir in Darbar’(1620) depicts Abul Hasan and Manohar with Jahangir sitting on his throne, from Jahangirnama (Tuzk-e-Jahangiri), and it is an excellent painting.
8. ‘Jahangir’s Dream’ was painted by Abul Hasan.

Jahangir’s Dream: 

1. This Painting was made by Abul Hasan, given the title Nadir al-Zaman, which means the ‘Wonder of the Age’.
2. In this painting, the emperor’s dream has been referred to, in which the Persian Safavid emperor Shah Abbas, the rival who possessed the province of Qandahar, visited him.
3. Interpreting it as a good omen, he had the court artist Abul Hasan paint the dream.

Shah Jahan:

1. The son of Jahangir, Prince Khurram, succeeded the throne of Delhi and adopted the name Shah Jahan (1628–1658).
2. Shah Jahan encouraged the artists in the atelier to create magnificent Mughal paintings that blended imagination and documentation.
3. Idealisation and great stylisation were preferred over naturalistic rendering and accurate depiction.
4. These Mughal artworks were created using jewel-like colours.
5. Padshahnama (The Chronicles of the King), an extraordinary manuscript, is one of the most exuberant painting projects reflecting the height of Indian miniature painting.

Dara Shikoh:

1. ‘Dara Shikoh with Sages in a Garden (1635)’ painting signifies the persona of Mughal Emperor Dara Shikoh.
2. A poet and connoisseur, he commissioned a unique album of paintings to give to his wife.

Aurangzeb:

1. Aurangzeb succeeded in the war of succession by defeating Dara Shikoh.
2. His focus was on the expansion of the Mughal empire and its unification under his leadership.
3. Aurangzeb did not put much effort to elevate the production of the Mughal atelier.
4. However, unlike popular belief, the royal atelier did not shut down immediately and continued producing beautiful Mughal paintings.

Later Mughal Painting:

1. Due to the gradual decline of ardent patronage, highly skilled artists left the Mughal atelier and were welcomed by provincial Mughal rulers.
2. Although the Mughals produced some masterworks during the reign of Muhammad Shah Rangila, Shah Alam II and Bhadur Shah Zafar, these proved to be the last flickers in the candle of the Mughal miniature school of painting.
3. Eventually, the Mughal miniature style converged into other classes of Provincial and Company Schools.

Conclusion:

We can thus conclude by stating that the Mughal miniature painting style was notable for blending indigenous themes and styles with Persian and later European themes and styles. Mughal art at its pinnacle displayed a highly complex combination of Islamic, Hindu, and European visual culture and aesthetics.