Mughal and Other Indian Paintings from the Chester Beatty Library Volume 1 [1]

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MUGHAL AND OTHER INDIAN PAINTINGS FROM THE CHESTER BEATTY LIBRARY Linda York Leach ,f

VOLUME I

0

SCORPION CAVENDISH

.

f 11

133 7

·.! 6 /... 4 3

199£ v. I

C The Truucc1 or the Cbes.ttt Beatty Ubrtry, Oublln, lrtland, and Lindi York LcacbJ 1995.

AH riaht• rtservcd. No pan or this publkadon may~

reproduced, 1tottd iD a retrieval system, or trantmin~ in any Corm 0t by any means, dttuoalc, mtthanicaJ, ~ocopyi;ns. ruordil>a .. ~ th< prior pcrmluioa o( th< copyricht owntt.

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Thit public:ldon was made ponibk UvouP a p:naous pant by the TNSleet: or the Chester Beluy Ubraty. Fini publl>hcd in 199 5 in Enabnd by Scorpion Cavendi$h Ltd

3 I Mu1oeum Street London WCIA IUi

E.nsJand ISBS I 900269 00 7 (vol. I) ISBS I 900269 02 l U vol. K1l Libnry CaWOculoa-lo"Publlco- Ona. A cttalofue tt:COrd ol this book is available: from th< Britlth Ubrvy.

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Edhor: Lconl1'd H.anow Oellp: Zm1 flu

Typttet by M11terType, Newport, Ettt• Printed and bound in England by BPC Wbe11on1 Ltd, Exeter

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UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

Volume 1

CONTENTS

p"'e 7

' Ota•i •rioe oftM Material

II

No.. oo Speliac

12

1

List of Plates

Chapter I Tit. pai.,;,,p ofAkbar'• rrill" up 10 /6()(}

17

QapterD P~fi-

/6()(} IO 1615

147

CUpterW /rrcpnial ~ft- 1615 IO /654

349

CbapterlV

M""'4J pomti"I' ft- 1658 10 1760

0 gt z

Goc. gle

479

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PREFACE

Sir Alrncl a...... Beany (1875-1968), tbc fim ever booonry citiun of Ireland, was an American of Irish, English and Scottish mocst.ry. He was widely trndled and durina tbecoune ofhis very active life he became ooe of thcwor&d's patest collecton of Islamic and Far Eastern an. He olso acquired precious eumples of the an of other ciWizatiom and culnua. Amoog these was the pat collection of Indian miniatwa oomprisiog tbc pcaent cataJocue. Tbe Trustees of the Chester Beany Libnry are vecy pleoaed that this imporwit pan of their prieeless collection, bequeotbcd to them by Cbeoter Beany for tbc me of tbc public of all countrieo, will DOW be brought to worldwide attcotioo by the publ.ic:atioo. of this mllJ"ifsceot c:ataloeuc. The oommiq ioningof such a catal~ is a moral obliption which the TruJleeS owe to the -Id in respect of all their collectioos but one which, sadly, ocarciry of raow= does no< permit fully to be disclwJed.

In 1978 wben the Trustees lint enppd Dr Linda Leach to undertake this woabjohui with bjs rille, Nw~SWA/bwo

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J.44 RaPiBikramaii1,1AuSWJMMAlbal J.4' Ekterlycourticrwitbascroll,

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J.47 Cowtiu lc:aninaoo •staff,

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Colow pL.. Sf. J.14 J ahucircdebntcs lloli'

Nairal./MSWAlb'°" J.43 Akbuoo1bonc, LouSWJ.-AU...

437 442

452 453 45-4 4S5 4S6 4S7

J.4' Detail, border, retaiocnnMDinio1 swords,. LouSWJoU.Alb..o 3.49 Rustam Kbao,LouSWJ"""'°A3.56 AseeticiotiJO•aldo,1-SWJ""""A3.51 M ulla Shahandcompulloo1,

Z..U.SWJ•"""Alb..o 3.57 S.'dlaodcompooiom,l.a#SWJ"""'°Allooo 3.5' Mullah with officer Uld muaiciaD, l.a#SWJoU.Alb..

J.'2 Fac:reofayoungmao J.'1 Aa!Kbanwithaponnitminiaturt

3.65 SbahJobaofiriog1malCblock J.M Khu.snu and Shirin

3.'7 Sllab Jabao ... globe 3.61 KDeeliQgrom

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460 461 462 46J 464 46S 466 468 &k

494 496 497

4. 14 Ayoun,apMccwhbaniby 4. 11 Noblel'!:Clin.iq in1h~MWl!Wf 4. lf Awomanknee1Jnaby1wi.ndow

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4.20 T"imuren1hroncd

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4.22 A ftAst on a uu platform 4.lJ 8-ckd Mushaloffia:r

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S01 508 Sll Sil Sl4 SIS

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4.1 Iktail, nilgiU being ihoc

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4.lS A noble kncdinc oa a temce

4.JJ Noblcoo tmoccwhlu h4,J, Poruahol1prinoc11 4.4' Group.rC1kinia10llclliooda iltustnted, WU prob&blyappmrintardyequal to die COCIJ ia tbe a....W>d maouscrip1. Beatty obiained his ol tbe ten and ita miDiatutta from Khalil Makin< iD Paris iD Fd>nwy 19J7. A few months later, a poupol.ieavesfrom the samt'....Xume iocludina 54 miniarurcs W11s offend to him by a sccood French dealer but wu rtfu.sed. It is these miniatures wbkb hive been d.i1pe:nod to various Western col1tctiooJ ovu a period of yan. Certain leaves iD lnclian collcctiom may haft come from an indtpcndent source and, if to, indicate tha1 the: volume had been damaaed befott it left tbe 111bconlinen1. No por1icular portion of the: Beatty Tad N-. isabteo1, bu.t lbc lalsimplybasmiaina kilvalha1 NII all tbe wa.)' tbnMllh tbe fable Soos aod capt. '!'be goldomith and cvpen1er, diquiaod u brahmios, - in ttldilional Hindu sarb, bu• each alto wall I hiJb turbao. Other Ntbao1 dcpiaed in tbc m appar charxluistic of the: Doc:an; the c:aps, ocacrutiaslJ, are cypic:a1 ol aonhtrn or watcm ..__Tall hall arc found in .. carliu ..__.SlllwJili DOW mainly in tbc Prince of Wales Muxum, Bomboy. This maomcripificana: ol the bouquet he holds as ht pttpues to depon warUti his ctaaer, sword aod shield. Lillro')I folio: 20r

Tk &fth .;po: (Only a ponionof lhe panot'snory fortht nJsbt is preserved in lh< Beatty Library xctioo ol !he man.uscript.) A monkey wbo is companion to a prince bites him on the band in a quarrd, and when the prince pews ao bttta, a phyaicioa pmcnDw status of the man convincingly. The following miniature is probably by the same haod. 1.1O ~ dervish's elephant is seen a.1 thc top of the picture ju" outside a palatt, as the King of Bahilistan and his bearded prime minister confer abour how .they can now prohibit the maniage.

Ubo-my folil" 26• Note: Th.is miruarure and the previous one appear lO be by the same anist whose figures are unusually small and whose Style is plain. I .J I Three men, ooe with a horse, stand above ground beside a well looking down astonished into its depths at the King of Kings in an orangcjama, the female jinn, and the old man. The woman th.rows herself at the feet of the king as her elderly bearded lover still squats beside che boiling cauldron (illu5tnted). Library folio: 28r Note: A comparison with lhc: same soenc in the Cleveland Tvli N°'"" (fol. 49v) shows that oc:asionally Akbari painten favoured holding to old conventions even when these proved unsatisfactory. The Cleveland illustration depicts the wcU and jts depths simply by cutting away the near side, but this seems to bt an individually conceived solution that was discarded or forgotten. The more

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awkward Beatty illustration by contrast follows long «tablished Persian tradition; a weU or pit was commonly depicted as here with an dlipse symbolizing irs shape glimp«d from above and a funber circle understood as its interior. This painter, not very weU trained, i.s nevertheless conscious of putting his srory acroos in a dramatic manner, utilizing the black background of the pit a.od the three surprised spectators above to best advantage. 1.12 The King of Kings on a golden throne in his coun blesses the woman and her young lover dressed for their wedding who kneel before bim in the midst of courtiers with gold jewelry and dishes before them. Both wear short ftowcr garlands and overhead a garland of leaves and ftowers also marks the occasion (illustrated). Lihnny /.U., 29v

Note: This miniature, ooe of the most attractive in the manuscript, is characteristic of thls volume which fearutts bi:W>t colours and detailed patterns. It again includes some tall, unusual turbans(scc 1.3, 4). The illustration may be by tbe same painter who produced the SttDe of the parrot presenting the fruit of eternal life ( 1.2A). Tiie eiptb aipt: When a king's son i.s born, the astrologers p ""''· The 111W ..w..... """ io cd. Some of the paintings arc ~ with picasing decorative effect around three sidves arc plmtifully Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MICl;ilGAN

75

AfllflttJ/ a"" oWr lndimt Pailflintt from 1/u Clt.nur Biot.ty Library

illustrated on bolh recto and verso. In contrast to olher fable books that generally include only one key soe:ne per story, the Beatty 'l>·ar··i Dan.WI often has a sequence of paintings for each tale. Many paintings arc: also internally divided so that succcss.ivc: events appear on a single page; for example, the: merciful king in-side his palaoe secs his starving chamberlain steal a gold djsh at the: top of the: miniature, and, at the bottom, the: king, standing outside the palace, frees people wrongly suspected of the crime (I. In). There is no doubt that the illustrations of this ..·olume wuc finished more quickly than most, because founceo pa.in.tings record the number ordays allotted to the artist for his work (Stt 1. 111, 130, 148, 154, 157, 164, 165, 169, 173, 176, 183, 185, 189 and 194 below). Five to seven days was a common specification and probably included lhe whole process of designing and cokmring these small, comparativtly simple scenes, a wk that io ll\0$t cases was done by one man. Some of the inscriptions also record that work was done on a particular day and month but unfonunatcly omit mention of a spec.i6c year. 7 Alt.hough inscriptions giving the craftsman's working time arc rare because intended to be covered with a final application of paint, they occw in a few other manuscripts. The dispersed Akbari Bahr Nam.a has a note stating that a painting shoukl take the: anist fifty days to complete and in seven! other instances an equa.lly long period was allotted.' The Klumi.s4 of Nizam.i in the Keir collection, which like the 'lyar-i Dani.sh has small illustrations, mentions twenty-one days.' Whm compared with the precision and finished qualicy of this latter manuscripc:, it is cleat that labow was rapid and scenes were left slightly sketchy in the Beatty fable book. The Beacty •Jyar-i Danish also has inscriptions paraphrasing stories that were presumably meant as aids for the artist and should have: been over-painted. Both types of inscription imply that the purpose for which the manuscripc: was intended was casual and that the occasional failure to cover such eLcmcnts was overlooked. The text may have been dispersed among too many painters simultaneously for close supmrision during the production of the book. When the: Beatty manuscrip( is viewed along wich the many copies of the Anvar-i Suliaili, several features emerge in addition to the most important which is the e1.tremely hi&fl ntio of illustrations in the Beatry volume. The: IS70 and 1596 Am.aar-i SWta.ilis both have fewer but much larger sceoes that were intended to be masterpieces. Both manuscripts arc lavish, with a wide range of strong, lush colours. Pigments were of course c:xpensjve, and colours as well as gold indicate that the 'lyar..i Danish was to be a charmingly decorative but not opuJent book; gold is used for thrones and occasionally for skies but is generally restricted. In the 1570Arruar-i Sidlaili, rural huntsmen and even thieves are splendidly dressed in gold-patterned garments. The Beatty manuscript gives a more accurate: picture of social life, showing people of various classes with

cypical clothes, tools or household po5$C$$ions. Of mscc.ncs, an cxccptionaJ one is that picturing the baker in his shop surrounded by various other market chatacten as be is

accosted by the Anh who will ruin him (1.172). Although no other miniatures have com parabk genre: qualities, many art earthy like tbc fabk:s themselves. One an believe in the discress of the hunters. fowlm~ farmers, or laundrymen

76

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who try to t"k.e out a living but arc often dc:alt cruel blows by fate. When the Beatty manusc:rip< is compared with the 1596 Anvar-i Sulurili in the Bhant Kala Bbavan, Banaras, it is clear that the larger seen.es in the latter required more precise draftsmansrup. Modelling, wrucll Akbar's artists created by applying succcs.sive layers of paint over a period of time, is much less complex in the •Jyar-i Danisls than in the Anvar--i SMMili scenes. However, it is interesting that several of the: same painters worked on both fable manuscripts (Anant, Shan.kar, Sanwlah 1 Nand Gwaliori 1 Japnor Japrulllth, and possibly Dhann Das). Some of the animal scenes in the two manuscripts are close in scyle and composition. By contrast, the early seventeenth century Am:iar-i Sulu:ili manuscript now in the British Library is the product or a new age. Its conventions are distinct from either those: of the '/yar-.i Danish or the 1596 AnN:r-i Sw.JuriJi, despite the fact that cenain of its compos.itions continue to be much the same. The most advana:d concepts of figural movement or modelling in the 'lyar-i Dmtisle a:Uniarures appear typical of the general period from about 1590 tosomcwha.t after 1595; the woman mauled by the lion as her cowardly lover gallops away provides one such eumple ( l.162). The ~es of the BriWh Libruy manuscript are typical of the early Jahangiri period, falling into the: two types then favoured by the emperor. They thus have either WI, willowy Persian propon.jons or are stocky rypcs showing a greater influence of European naturalism than in the Akbari period. Most of the 'lyar-i Danisls miniaturists., such as those who also produced paintings for the: 1596 Am.iar-i SrJiaili, were regularly employed during the mid-1580sand I 590s in Akbar's atelier. Their work is known from inscriptions on diverK manuscripts. Their reputations and talents arc varied. E1.ceptional paioters like Sanwlah and Nanha were renowned in the atelier; others like Mani or Dhanu were less frcquentJy given top assipinents, but here demonstrate an aptitude for depicting animals and landscape. Dhanu's composition of King Solomon assembling all the: anima ls and birds for consultation is one of the most decorative in the Beatty manuscript and shows numerous bird species in remark.able detail for so small a work (1 . 191). A few paintcn seem to have been young men. The •Jyar-i Danisls contains the first recorded examples by the painter Daulat who worked on into the mid-seventeenth century. This manuscrip1 was also an early assignment for the artist Payag who contributed to two Babw Nama manuscripts during the Akbari era, but whose career flourished only under Shah Jahan (see the biograpb.ical appendix). In spite or the fragmentation of the Beatty •[yar-i Danisls manuscript, its original exten.t is known because many of its paintings arc numbered. Sir Chester Bcany's ponion of the volume begins with the story of a love affair involving a painter from Kashmir which is taken from the latter part of the: second text chapter ( foUowing Abu 'I· fazl's l"'O int.rOductory chapters). The first Beatty miniature, depicting the painter's liaison, is numbered 61 and thus indicates a significant number of miniatures m.issi.ng from the beginning of the volume:. However, Crom the numbers on other illusuations, it is evident that mo.st Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

leaves: att present in the rest of the book and only a few pages lost from its conclusion (the seven miniatures missing from the body of the ten are listed in the catalogue of scenes below). The last Beatty miniature, numbered 164, is vinua.IJ:y a.1 the end of the fables; only one story and a short epilogue would once have foUowed. Thus it can be coocluded that the total volume originally had about 170 paintings of which the Library now owns 96. Fifry-ooe miniatures in the Jehang:i.r collection, Bombay, briefty described in a caWogue by Kati K.handalavala and Moti Clandra, can be idaitificd as coming from the beginning of this '/yar-i Danish manuscript:. The s.ize of pa,ges, width of text blocks, handwriting and use of red ink for chapter headings all serve to re.late the rwo sections. The min.iaturt styles are similar and in addition there are many painters' names common to both portions. Such miniaturists include Shivni, Shanlw Gujarati, Surjan, Sbyam, Paras, Dhanraj, Imam Quli and Pemji Gujarati. 11) When tho Bt in the fOd, the bone oppooi1e the lion in the midJTOWld, o.nd the n-r,A • - Cl'Clte iui::od bi-1o'rtklt-iydv.10JrJmtoi 4r.4.,.i i/dltJ ('it shouJd be done in nine days by the t lt\'cnth of Azar')

Story 1: Despite the warnings of the leader, Ringdove, a ftock of hungry pigeons cat grain scat1crcd by a fowler and arc caught in his net as obsen·ed by a crow. Told by Ringdove to fty in unison, the pigeons escape and a helpful mouse gnaws a hole in the net; the crow 1hcn at1c:mpts to make friends with lhe mouse b ut is rebuffed sintt tht mouse recalls the following story of the hawk and pvtrid.ge. 1.114 The crow observes the fowler sci ting his nc1.

By Karim Dad Recto Poinlinl 1Ulmbn: 12 R.tprodwctd: Arnold and Wilkin.son, pl. 39• 1. 115 The pigeons sc-ttlc to cat the grain as the fO\liler waits 10 pull the string of the net.

By Karim Dad Vttso

/)ain1i1tg 1'1mti>n": 69

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p......,_,13 R,,.-, Arnold &ad Willowinc th< snake actually being lifted r..... th< fire, wltik the wty .....,tttnth ccnrury 'Liihu of Canopua' minlaturt dcpiet• the di1CUSsion betwttn th< sulk< and th< buffalo about th• monlity of biting the ttptil•'• beongjng to a prince dressed ln orange accompanied by lWO companions. The prince 1pproachcs a golden palace pavilloo holding bis fingtt to hl1 mouth in amuemcnti inskk lb.is palace, a bear and his conson

weuUt, human oootwnes rC'try manuscript with small illusuations that ca.n.not now be identified. The final divorce of the composition from its ori,girtaJ context occurred whcn, like so many Dlhcr miniatures, it was mounted on leaves of

JaJians;r's dictiooary, lhe Fariumg·i]allimgiri, in the early twentieth century. 1

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Welch, t963a, no. lb. Bcach, 1981, DO. 16d; Brown, pl. XXXVI. Auribudua or baoctwritlng by A. Ske:llon.

1.239 A group of lhrtt angels wearing European dresses and cloaks poses ui a rocky landscape setting with a river

att el>borately painted in pastel colours and gold. The angel with the fish was repeated several times by Indian nUniaturists and can apparently be related to the apocryphal Book of Tobit in which Raphael, angel of healing, aids young Tobias on a long journey by advising him to cat the cnuail5 of a hcalth·giving fish . 1 Other examples of an angtl holding a fish near a river occur iJl miniatures belonging to the Muste Guimcl, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and the Bharat Kala Bb.avan.1 A small putto-like boy holding a fish in front of a seated European woman is the subject of a related painting ill the Binney coUection. 1 Although the European costumes and hairstyles are unmistakable in Akbari SCC:ne$ 1 the motif of an ange-1 with a fish also occurs in the Persian Shah Noma where the symbol has a generally auspicious meaning. 4 Mughal anisu may have copied a novel Western prototype to which they attached a meaning already familiar from Persian tradition. That Ille fish symbol was but vaguely defined is showo by il$ employment in varied compos.itioos - with a small boy, with a single angel, or with several as here. Gombtidt, EH,S,.,..&ol:ic I-..u: Stl#lllW ii.11¥ Alfo{tlw ~#, Nt91 York, l9n . pp. 26-30. 1 M!McGu.imet,publ.ishcd Stdlouki.ru:, 1929, p, 18or Du, 1971,pt 76: 1

V"tc:tori1 111d Alben Mll5CWn l .S . 10~1 960; Bbanc Kala Bb1van, published C.lioti, 1971, 6a;. S92. Binney, DO. 291:>. • T idey, ms. IOS:IS; nu. I 15:8 .

1.240 Majnun, embracing a (awn, kneels at the feet of a woman in European dress holding a book, to whom he offers a rosary. A lynx, a fox and a large ewtt also appear in Ille l>ndscape.

c. 1595- 1600 By Manohar Dnwing tinted with blue and olive

nmn.ing across the foreground. The principal angel, seated on a E uropean RenaissaDCC chair in the centre of the compOSition, gives instructions to one sta.nd.i.ng before her hokli.ng ou1 a fish. The third angel, acting as attendant, stands behind the chair fanning her companion with a scarf

Inscriptiott: 'ltfftOl..i mano4ar "'1.s ('work of the $Cl'Yan1 Manohu") Bon:lm: dark blue and brown inner sunou.ods; aa·outer border with a cksigo of Sowers and fruit in vases was probably produced in Luc.know, c. 1780. Siu: 14.9 x 9cm; 38.S x 30tm with border

(illustnlled).

Libnny 11t11Wbtr: I JA. 12

c. 1595

Not~:

&trtkr: lhe scene i.1 mounted on an eipteenlh century album page with pink and blue: inner •urround.s; the outer border is decorated with 6oraJ icroUmotifs in two shacks of gokl on a plain ground.

Siu: 19.S x J4cm; wi1h border 43.S x 28.6cm Li"""1y nWMb1r: 62.2 RC$ which each help to characttrize lhe early seventeen.th century. Foremost is the great partial manuscript of lhc A.lbarNoma which was the last historical work produced in the long sequenoe of iUusuated books com.missioned during most of Akbar's half ceorury in . This Wrk 11Dd a section of the Nofollal al-Uns describing sufi saints rq>resent the Agra atelier, altered by changes at the end of Akbar's rule but still foUowi.ng "andards determined by that influential emperor. These volumes contn" to som< degree with works produced for Printt Salim in the eastern fort of Allahabad during the same few years. Sir Alfred Chest« Beany purchased two manuscripts, the Yot VashisAt and Raj KtmWOT, as well as a single miniature from a series of hunt picrures, which in tQlo add a great deal to the knowledge of the seminal art crttted for Prince Salim during ltis years ofrd>dlioo from 1600to1604 at Allahabad. The Beanyand olhtt miniatures from the fortress reveal that the rebel prince often lacked the besc pigments and was forced 10 hire certain inferioc provincial painters. Nniertheless, be also brouaht with him a few of the best imperial miniaturists who worked boldly in an experimental fashlon. Both lhe Beatty manuscriprs arc exciting stylistically as well as novel in subject; neither had been illustrated during Akbar's wide-rangjngcxploralioo of Indian pb.ilosopb.y aod literature, nor (from what is now known) were they later repeated in the Mughal studio. Such in.oovative selections alone indicatt something of the fmh cultural vjews the prince was talcing during ltis lint real period of ft=iom from Akbar's dominating personality. Although Salim proclaimd ever bad designs on the emperor's life., Just prior to Salim's rtbtllion, his brother Murad, ooly one year younger, died of alcoholism. TIUs event of I599 must surely have affected the: actions of both the prince and bis father in 1600. Jt may have reinforced Salim's desire not to engage in grim battles but to live bcdonistically while be could. Begun in 1583, the fort at Allahabad was a massive red sandstone one resembling thooc built earlier by Akbar in Agra and Lahore. It was• locical Ck of Mughal territory to govern indcpend"1tly. The weak Salim wrote out a few {rmtmu , bad coins strode. in his name, and a throne carved, but oevtr ruled by the creation of policy. Akbar, who adapted a half disciplinary, half ooncillatory a.ttitud.e: toward his son, certainly bad no illusions about the prince's capabilities. Salim's i.:odolcncc, his murder of the emperor's ooo.6.daot Abu '1-fazl, and the ill bealth caused by h.i.sexcesses were all f1c1ors that seem to have influenced Akbar to consider miking Salim's oldest child Kbusrau his heirJ as recorded by the Jmlit du Jarric and othen.' The lack of a fum tradition of primogeniture caused profound discord in evuy generation of W Mugbal dynasty. Allahabid, ca.l1cd Prayaga by Hind\1$, had become an imponant political ccnuc for the Mughals, but had a far tonger history as o.oe of Hinduism's primary holy sites. For at least rwo millmn.ia prior to the lslamic conquest it had been accorded such status because of the Ganges/Jwnna conftuenoc there. The very act of renaming the site with the title of the monotheistic Muslim God indicates bow crucial the Mughal.s felt Prayap's agc~ld religious signi6c.anoc to be. Every twelve yean an enormous wwla or festival was held wbich was detennioed by the phases ofthe moon aod was attended by holymcn from all over India. Salim's in the city did not coincide with this event, but a smaller festival in the middle of the cycle did occur during his rebellion. At any rate, be would cenainly have been aware of the cultural juxtapositions in the city and would have observed the many yogis visiting the meeting point of the two rivers even on ordinary days. As in many other places, Muslims built directly over a spot important to Hindus in order to show their domination. Today the large Hindu shrine at Allahabad mainly runs under the massive Mughal fon, and the huge banyan tree where Hindus traditionally com.mined sWcade by drowning, so IS to die at an auspicious location, actually pro;ccts from the fon itself. At times in his life when Salim/Jahangir encountered Hindu polytheism, be was disturbed by it, so that it is difficult to know what be madeof Prayap. The manuscripts of the Chester Beatty Library suggest, however, that he felt a strong attractioa. for the yogis be - obsetviog. The Yog Vas/tislu, ao explanation of a particular set of Y')gic doc:tri.oes illustrated for him at Allahabad in 1602, features cxltCmely pcr«ptive studies of ascetics. A second manuscript, the Rtij KlllffJXD', also done at Allahabad, traces the quest of a prince who disguises himself as a yogi. As his own mcmoin and ac:coonts by Jesuit fathers and other contemporaries testify, Salim revercoccd all cypes . of holy men and often eagerly sought their advice. In a world of couniers vying for his in.ftuence, be seems to have felt that the sage-wanderer was a kind of impartial

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~ me, I ktlow wha1 sort ofmdunnce 1 tioldom would have, die llN.ndatioaa ol

wbicb were Wd oo hostility tot fathtt, Vld ,.. ooc mo~ by I.be c¥il C'OUMd1 of suc:b worth.lea mm, but .ctltig torotd..ioa 10 tbc dicwa of maoo. Uld knowkdae I wlitcd

oa my Catha .•• Mid my vi$iblt God, and a1 • mull of thil aood pmpote n went well with me'). • Du Jarric. p . 187.

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father·figure. Jahangir's memoirs commence on his accession so that they shed little light on the period of his rebellioo, but the records of his visits with Hindus, $Uch as a hermit named Jadrup, are among his later accounrs. ln describing jadrup, lhe emperor discusses the Hindu stages of life and mentions details of the conditions for ascetic practice. To the emperor, Jadrup seems to have been at once an exotic and a figure comparable with mott familiar lslantic sagcn;1 oottby l"'°"CltlPPtdy linbd, it is .oecessary to ptrU1e the ootes

x.._

written for both catries to pin some undcntandjna of the s.tylc. A summary appears below of the pain1m who worked on both manuscripts as well as on the Yog VaJ/tisht alone. Pai.ntcn who worked only on the Rqj Kwrwar arc li11ed in the note for that manuscript.

5'•••'1 ol annts wllo worbd oa tloe Yor V&1/lillll aad

Hariya (3 pointinp; lhcx ..We to Willtin-, 1929, pll. XX) Yor v""""" 2.17, 32;RajK-2.'6.

xv,

KMat Kana ( I pointing): Yat Vadis.\I 2.21. An1a1 A (S pointinp; those conrclinate well with Beach, 1978, p. 3-4 or Lost.y, 1982, colour pl. XXVI which b fol. 109vfrom the 1602 Diwan of Hasan Dihlavidone forSllim a t Allahabad) Yai Vashiock struagle tOt!ether with one raising his hand to stab the other in the back as he himself is wounded in the stomach by this enemy. ln th~

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167

.......,.._m, N... : 1nuu..,;.,;.,.,., e;,i.,.ta,i..,"°"",...it11< 01roaloUr «>:lliotrident;,110OT, in the Avadhi, or eastern dialect. Both poems were illustnted in pre-M"81W styles durin& the fifteenth century, but the Bcany Raj KwtWOris the only surviving illustnted MughaJ example of this literary type. Qutban, who had btt:n initiated in10 two sufi ordefl, wrote under the p1tt0nage of Husain Shah Sharqi of Jaunpur .1 The Sharqis had been among the most culturally distinctive Sultanate rulers, but by the time Qutban compitted ltis MrigatJat, the learned Husain Shah had been forced into exile. The vrork is nevertheless typical of the Sharqi d)'N.$ty in its cultivated combination of Indian and Pcnian elements. On a philosophical Jevel, though the Raj K"""'°' entnms ltis soul to Allah during ltis dangerou.s quest, he is also inspittd by the characters of the Hindu Ramll)'Ona and Moltobltaro1a as models of courage and perseverance in his adventures. M oreover, there are ancmpts in the text to blend Hindu concepts of Siva aod his feminine energy, or sakli, with lsJamic belief. Culturally Qutban's story includes referenoes to Indian daily customs, showing, for example, that habits such as the eating ofpo4n had become a familiar aspect of lift !or Muslims. The W. ooncJudcs with the Raj Kunwar's rwo wivescommittingsab upon his death in characteristic Indian fashion. His talc indeed stems h.ardly to h>ve been modified at all from the Hindu original. Though the Mnlavat or Raj Kum.var was a frequently copied Sultanate text, ildoes not seem to have been popular by the seventeenth century. Because an ln&eription states that the Beatty copy was prepared in the fortress of Allahabad ~ it is possible that Prince Salim became aoquaintcd with the We only when he went to stay in this city of Qutban 's native eastern India. Although it cannot be established without doubt that the work was DOl pttViously translated for Akbar, it seems likely that th.is wdl·liked

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O~HIGAN

189

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UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

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Sultanate ta.le bad become obscure. It was at variance with the pnctical, dynamic environment of Akbar's coun; the quixotic Prince Salim, who was profoundly s-wayed by infatuations throughout his life, would have been more attuned 10 its message. The Beatty Raj Kumoar compares closely with the Yog Vas.hishl done for Prince Salim at Allahabad a little less than cwo yea.rs earlier. The illustrations for both manuscripts are approximately the same size which is smaller th.an dimensions for Akbari manuscripts of the 1S90s. The two works also havt similarly arranged composit.ioos conunonly involving a limited number of figures in a simple setting. Since several painters contributed miniatures to both manuscripts, the relationship is a speci6c as well as a general stylistic one. Notable among these artists are Bishndas and Haribans, who produced a fifth of the Raj Kimwar miniatures between them. Haribans was a competent but unexceptional miniarurist of the Akbari court whose Raj Kunwar scenes arc pleasantly coloured and efficiently arranged to bring out the story. He is, however, in a different clasl from the expressive Bishndas who was young but already recognizably a genius. Beginning work in the Akbari studio around I 589 when still a young teenager , Bishndas must have bceo discovered by the aesthetic Prince Salim sometime during the DCK.t twelve years. }The best painter of the Raj Kll1fWm', Bishndas was $Urely recruited by a prince fully aware of his talents; as Emperor Jahangir, this patron described Bishndas as •unequalled in his age for ta.king likenc$ses', a quality appamit in both the Yog Vashuh1 and Raj KlntWt11'.4 The figures in these .-w·o manuscripts are eK.quisitcly modelled and uncannily naturalistic. Such naturalism is panicularly evident in a demonic scene in which the artist has used h.is skil.110 make the dismembered victim being roasted over a fire uncomfortably realistic (2. 70). Despite the scenes by Bish.ndas, there are fewer outstanding works in the Raj KIDfWOT than in the Yog Vashisltl. The ~taphysicaJ dimension of the 1602 Yor Voshithl seems to have stirred Salim's painters deeply, whereas the Roj Kumoa.r illus.trations are depicted with a lesser dcgrcc of emotional involvement or interpretation. Though the pri.nccly hero of the Raj Kwnwarputson ascetic garb and, according to the author's symbolic level of interpretation, undergoes a spiritual journey, be remains a stercotypica.J romantic figure. The dedic:ation of ascetics in the Yog Vashishl illustrations is fervently communicated by intense faces and emaciated bodies, but the suffering and terror o( the princely hero in the Raj Kurrwar merely add spice to an adventure story and arc not ta.ken too seriously. Salim may not have had as many painters at his disposal (."ring bis serond sbon stay in Allahabad when the Raj Kwrwar was produced. Many o( the mediocre scenes in the manuscript were produced by a single painter, Artist C, who did not contribute to the Yog Vas.his.hi, but c:omple.ted eight miniatures for the Raj Kunwar. Artist C, a bland pain ter, is chiefty recognisable for his primitive drawings of eyes and for the stiff gestures of his figutts. Artist C's prominen~ in itself results in a less favourable overall impress.ion of the 1604 Raj Kwrwar, despite the excelJent pajntings by Bishndas and Haribans. The 1alen1cd Kcsu Oas seems to h.avc remained in the prin«'s employ, but,

possibly because he was very old, he produced only two J(ll1tfl)(lr in oon1taS1 to the eigh1 illustrations he created for 1he Yog VasJi:Uh1. ffjs scenes of yogis eating communally is one of the most outstanding in che volume, however, because of the artist's ftucncy in drawing (2.78). Neither Anist C or 0 had acquired the technical knowledge about pigments that was requisite even for minor oolouris1s in the Akbari studio, suggesting tha1 Salim employed raw recn1its and that the atelier was 001 organized for training. The calligraphy of the Raj Kimwar manuscript was by an otherwise unknown scribe called Burban who terms himself •the least of men'. Salim h.ad cmpk>)"ed Miskin Qalam, or •Musky Pen', described by Abu 'l· Fa:z.l as one of the best in Akbar's circle, for other Allahabad com.missions; whether this more ttnowncd calligrapher tiad left the city or was otherwise occupied when the Raj Kvnwar was produced is unknown.' Salim was first in Allahabad from 1600 to March, 1603; the Yog Vas!Wlu .was completed in the period from December, 1602 to January, 1603, s.honly before be left to attempt a reconciliation with his father in Agra. Their accord was brief, a.ad lhe prince ttturncd to his eastern fonrcss in October, 1603, staying until November, 1604. 6 The Raj KWJWaT, dated 1012 AH (I I June 1603-29 May 1604) and specifying that it was done in Allahabad, must have beenl>"'P'red betwecn0ct00..., 1603and May, 160-I. Whether the slight diffc.rcnccs in lhe quality of the Yog Vailtirlu and Roj Kunwar art due to coincidence: or to greater stringency during Salim's second rebellious period is unknown. The other manuscript from this period that is closely related in some respects to the Raj KIUfWa.I', but con.truts sJ thus builds a td • musici&D with drums talks to mother man ia a pevilion (illustnted).

l.>18 The: prince embraces Mripvat in • Plvilioo. The:

Possibly by AnUt B

couple arc brouaht • covettd plancroffood, and drinks are being poured for them by maid servants Crom acvcral bottlc-s on 1 low uble in the ro....,ound ( illustrated).

Folio 4r R1~:

2.47 The prince swoons with k>nging in front of 1he new temple by the lakt as his former DUJ"K bends over him. Herc attributed to Arti11 E Folio 12< N...: Aniu E, who dnws heavily lined eyes lilm anoc.bu illustntica aJ>d in so doing to modify bis fisutt atylt. l.44 The princ< with bis mount on the bonl< wades in the locus-covettd lake fully dressed towud the head of the dJs&ppcuin1 deer (illustnted). Hett 1nribu1cd to Artist B

f'oUo 6r

N oce: Artist 8, whose works lppett in the YOf VashWst (2.5, 15). continues to paint i.n much the same manner ror tho .u,htly later Raj K....,,,,.. Herc the scbcmalid the knotted, hanbly shaded Utt tnan.k.t: comlttc pmisdy with a mi.a.iatutt in lM earlier

maouacripc (J. IS) .

Herc attributed 10 Salim Quli FoUo lSv Note: Thd artist, whose squatt belds and stocky bodirs are distinctive, may be identified on die bu.is of a &imilar ...,,. in tho 'LisbtJ o(Canopus' manuscripc wbid> ban an imcripcloc to Salim Quli or thc 'Slave oi Salim'. t Ckuly from tbe pUatcr"s lide, this CatliQP.IS .minilturc was painted f0tSalim, probably in 1604/S whal nrodated miniarurcs in the manulClipc wue executed; it is thusco.itemporuy with the Raj K -.' Ocspi1t the idiosyncntic proponioo> of Salim Qu.li11 fiaures, hisminiaru.res arc very 11u1cc:ivc. Tbe three indoor scenes of the Raj Kunwar attribuu.ble to this painter (2.87, 92) are very close in composition t.nd have nearly identical co~ schemes ofbeige, green, yellow, and otllllj Kunwar, drmcd in his orange robe aod carrying his viM, walks lhrough a !IOliiary landscape by !he sea shore. folio48r

The decepeioa of the thepbe.rd: A shepherd who volunteers to act as the prince's guide is in reality a demon from whom the Raj Kunwar barely escapes. This fiend has already imprisoned two men in his cave whom he has fattened up for eating. They advise the Raj Kunwar to wait until the shepherd has gorged himself upon a victim after which ht will go to sleep. The prince is then instructed to heat the skewer on which the demon has cooked his meal and put the monster•s eyes out with it. The prince does th.is and is subsequently able to escape. While he is running away, four doves fty by him who arc servants of the demon shepherd. Unfonunatcly the prince hides for the night in a hoU$C where these birds appear and, ruming into women, gtt into four magic beds with lovers. In the morning when a messenger informs them that their shepherd had been blinded, the women tum back into birds to search for the culprit. The terrified prince runs from the house until he collapses under a uee Crom exhauS-tion and despair. Tbcrc he bean the doves discuWng Mripvat who lives in the nearby city of Kachinpur. 2.68 A stout shepherd surrounded by his flock of sheep kneels at the feet of the Raj Kunwar volunteering to guide him. The prince wears a IC'opard skin over his corso and a gazelle skin about his waist and carries his vina (illustrated).

outlined and !he background rocb arc so smoothly shaded that they seem al:mo5't like melal. Artist B's typical lined, knotted tree and frothy grasses appear at the &eft (compare with 2.S). 2.70 The demon roasts lhc torso of a victim over a fire on a stick with the arms and head of thc man beside him. He is watched by the melancholy Raj Kuowar in a dark yogic cloak kDcdillg by his oina and bag of po$$CS$ions. In the backg:rowtd the two fat ltavcllers look out from lhe cave where they are still imprisoned (colour pl>te).

Hert attributed to Bishndas Folio S« Note: The artist's treatment of the demon in th.Ls soenc recalls that of his Yog VaJAislu miniarurc with similar subject matter (2. 31) but is even more ingm.iously handled. The painter seems to be consciously aware tbat a bizarre subject treated with merciless realism will appear both believable and shocking. Herc he has employed all his skill in depicting the demon and hi.s victim, allowing the figutt of the Raj Kunwar to remain generalized so that it does not draw anention from the cenual arrangement. The victim's torso, glowing in the flames, is fully, sensuously modcllcd, while his swing, detached facial exJ*ession immediately arm-ts the viewer. With irony the pain1er has juxtaporscd this horrible vignette with rwo of the sheep tended by the demon peacefully asleep in the foreground.

2.71 The two tnvdJcn dircc1 the Raj Kunwar who stands in the bone..strcwn cave over the demon whom he has blinded and who lies ouu1r Akbar's prodigious stmlgtb 1nd appetite for novelty much more closely than the later series. Brill.iant colour, generous page dimensions, and striking iltusiooism were all cm.ployed to crate a heroic or epic vision, whereas the format of the British Library/Beatty A.lbar Ntmta is much smaller and its sty&c varies betWttll the decorative and the naturalistic. This A_.bar N"'1f4, being later, wa.s not required to be a ddinitive Mtorical manuscript th.It fetvelltly celebrated oonquest but was instead a more uanquil recoUectioo. Its battle sc::coes arc commonly somewhat romanticised with Im brutal emphasis on the violence of the contttts. Many suggest an aC$thetic approach akin to that of poeuy illustrations dooc from 1595 to 1605. Althouib nimqalomortinted minianuu of the Beatty manuscript are often unimaginatively coloured, other illustrations are more opulent than earlier SttOCS that were frequeody arranged solely in reds, blues, and browns. The: subtly graded lavenden, pin.ks or yeUows Beatty compositions, such as those by M.anohar or Govardhan, are more self'-consciously designed to create a plcuing impression and apio emphuize the ...metic rdioemcnt nther than the dynamic quality of the scenes. That tbc: Victoria and Alben rniniatun:s capture the raw sensation ofAkbar's daunting journeys and tumulruous haul.. mOt"e mdily than the polished S..tty illustntions seems to indicate )e5$ concCl'll by the early seveoteentb century for the purely biographical or historical aspect of the c:ycle. Neither series is as aocu.rate in detail, however, as accounts of the succeeding emperors Jahangir and Sbab

or

Jahan

which contaill numerous identifiable courtier portraits. As is proven by the a~ of Akbar him.self, naturalistic portrayal was well wit.hio the painters' abilities, but artists did not generally depict specific couniers i.n either A.Abar Nmna even when the sub;ccts were mcntiOL'Led

by name in Abu 'I-Faz.l's text. Thus docu.mentatioo, which was a relatively new an, was onJy carried to a certain point. Some Landscape features and some material objects such as arm.ow and weapons were generally accurate but other speci6cs were often ignored. Th.at the BritiMI Library/Beatty manuscript is stylistically quite distinct from the whole series of Akbari histories and religious manuscripts produced through. the I S80s up to the mid· I 590s deepens the mystery of its purpoK and patron. The Tina.r Nama, the Babw NilMllS, lhe Jaipur Ro.rm N0'1t&a and Romayau, the Victoria and Alben Akbar Nllm4, and the Cltingi< N0"'4 have a nouble stylistic consis·rcncy when considered as a group, while the British Library/Beatty A.Abar Nama is clearly outside this circle. Although it is the last history ma.nu.script to have been dooc in the Akbari era by an atelier renowned for such productions, its delic.acy separates it from any of the previous volumes of its rype. In oon.trast to the other histories, it seems to have been prepared more for a single penon than for dissemination within the coun, bccau5e it does not convey a sweq>ing, didactic view of its subject. In addition, it presents the period more &J:ICCdotally and Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

Palr1rinfs fro- 1600 to 1615

nos.taJgically, without the same sense of living through momentous times that so characterizes the: Victoria and Alben biographical illusuations of Akbar. One of the observations most readily made about the British Llbrary/Bearty AAbar Nama is lb.at it lacks the stylistic unity of the earlier AAbar Nama volume. &qumtdy finished illusuations oonuast stril that he bocame immensely deprcs.scd oo 11 November, IS95, and that at some unspcc:ilied time sbonly thcretfter, be was lauded by the emperor and that •a tewd· volume was completed as a gift to truth-seekers and connoiSSC'Un.' 27 Abu 'l·Fazl docs seem to indicate in these passages that the first partial copy of his work was sp«dily p,.pottd and was intended for th• gen. Skchoa, 1976, CJty by all Al 0 round, r>lht< placid {1« l.Dd the same rcsuained, tc.ntltiYC kind of dnwin& dont will>. liah• hand. Abu 'l· Ful SO}'$ d>ot Alhanl howdah in lhc: foreground is led away under guatd while in the btcJiptilkantofficc,and,b!h
i qo/.ont.i"""' sMlaalt lua&of

j41far4Ja fwqalo,.J

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('My quill has dnwn on these leaves writi.op little flowing water

Thus will my Came survive k>ng after my dc:ath Evcrywbett the pcrl'cction of my pen will be talked aboul Long after my booeJ ha~ been $Clnercd (oon:r my pc::n)')

11 Pindcs'>Wil.-i,sio. I ll. u T...Jt.i..JaAtntfiri, I: 54.

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joUlal--- Jdj]' n44zaoo.d jawriN illbt llifdlllt ~ 4of' ji¥•i

Op. tit. ,1: 152. Browo, pl. XIX; 8klcbe1, 1929, pl. CXCID; Brown, frontis:pX«,

Gulistan of Sa'di 162819 N.,./uroffolitn: 118 NWlfl/Hr o/ ..uma-ncrn, ~ 9 minilrurn; there i.s a decorative 'ionuait on folio 2v in bll.lC and gold and a dccorati~ hl1f pqc with ft0wtrs lpinst a Pd ground at tbt cod of the tut (fol. 118').

Prnnt1 arr~: stVCn miniatuttS •ere rcmo~ Ind xpen.tdy mounted at Chester Beltcy's request; rwo SCCOC$ mmin in the: manuacript (fols. 29" and 72r).

BirvlU.,: tbc red w:l\'Ct bindinaofGcorF IV'' reign has his initials wwkcd in Sold thread and in additioo a crown and tht emblems of four ordcn surrounded by a borckr of roses, thisdcs, and shamrocks. The inner covet i.1 litht btue silk. Script: a largt: MflO"lj,q wrrounckd by cloud forms on a gold ground within blue, ttd, and gold ru.lu.

fol, 118v: ol/4/tuolkr" bMa'rikAl-i 17 slialv-i fa/or•~ h'-'/.A:lroir wo·'l.14/• U1M I I lflllll4hif /(U.8 Aiji bl lllJSllld.)i 1t11ftui-yi ~Ai LMlei")'iphlta-n-i ~ 110 bi-Alto11-iribd':)'i tt4dir al.IO'#Uin MOai/4:n:4 ~i• niklMi on Hr sobil-i ru/J/o cio Q:l'lllOlltan bi-jiM1-i'al4 ~"' Jto~i lioslainot I Jpar& 110 rifa1 jaygdle pcidW•lfl41fl41ik-i Ut,lUt4n inal nowi4 binrira ileiltab al-dl11 ~ steale jotean p6dUuJA ihn 11ir o14i:n ja./tbfir pt;Ulslta.lt. 1'b"jal41ol4in aAbar pcidsN.ilt ('God is 1D0$1 peat! On lhe 17th of the month of Safar, which may God lmnimte with happiness aod victory, of the year 11 cqinlenl lo 104$ AH (31 June 1638), th.is exquisite copyof tbc Gulin4tc which rncmbb the garden of Eden and which is in the beautiful aod marvellous script o(Nadiral-Zaman Maulana Hakim Rukoa, I ba\'C sent it 111 a gift to His Ma;iesty, lhe glorious and most augu.st, the k.ioa of England. Trus is wrinen by Shibab aJ.Din. Mub•mmad Sbab )ahan hdshah ibn NUI &I-Din Jahangir Padsbah ibo Jolal al-Din Al, 0...1"'' was al$0 compiled dun,,. Akbor's later years.' At the beginning of jahangir's rt"ign a 8MS1an with twenty-six miniatures provided artists with a vehicle for exploring lhe stylistic concepts of the new age being $poosorcd by their aesthete king. 1 A GrJisum with horizontal scenes was produocd for Jahangir about 1615, and thi$ unusual format may have provided the model for lhc Beatty Gwlisuve as weUas its companion British Library volume! Nonetheless, Jahangir's earlier horirontal

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Goliuan and 9,...,. painters. Who then were the unnamed paintcnof the twoSa'di manuscripu, produced just after Shah Jab.an bad come to the throne? Th< career of Hakim Rukna suggests a paralkl; since the calligrapher was dismissed by Jahangjr but occupied a favoured position at the time of Shah jahan's coronation, it seems logical to suppose that Shah Jahan employed the poet during his last years as a prince. When young, the emperor had shown some interest in minilcwe painting, and the evidence of the rwo Sa'di manU$Cripts suggests that he had gatbcrcd a small group of provincial painters together in his travels to express his moderate enjoyment of the an. It would seem strange for the emperor to have hired incxpcrieDc:ed artists early ill bis reign when he could rum to the superlative paiotcn be had inherited. from his f.athcr. The logical suppositioo is that the painten of the Beatty Gwlisuno and British Library B...,,., wbOg, Shah )ahao likens thc Beatty Guliuan to the Garden of Eden, implying that he valued it for its charm and idyllic ornamentation. The undemanding compositions arc like small enamels, and it seems as if they were probably appreciated on this level by an emperor who favoured jcwdJcry and the dccorotive am. The _ . of the biognpbicaJ PadJMlt NanuJ, created from about 163S, arc mainly illusiooistic but among them are a few folios that have unnaturally proportioned figures and a Bat, decorative appearance like the scenes of the Beatty Gu/isum. Such pages emphasise bow linJe is known about the various artistic groups in Shih Jahan's studio and make clear that some provinciaJJ.y trained pa.i.Dten coexisted with those of the mainstream during much of the period. It is interesting that in all the miniatures of the Beatty Gldinart the king and his courtiers arc in contemporary Mugbal attizilc:ncc. 3.3 The king iUnOWlded by CXIWtiY in an open boat with 1 lioo·bcaded .,._. Tbe )'OW>I Ila~ is being pulled by the hair - - the gunwales .. the . . . in I fut-linfd rcbc aplaim hia ,..._jog to the kine

(illunnted). Here attributed 10 Painter A Folio 17•

R,,,...i•ud: Willdn-, 19S7, !If. 6

Noce: The fiaumoCthelting, thewiaemaoor minister and the caplain 1tt nearly identical to those: in the prcriou1 mi.oioturc alto 1ttribu11ble to Painter A. Painter A alto seems to have dooe two c.barm.iQc miniatures iD cht British Li~ 8Kdn, indudq ODC which is Kt OO Wit« like this sccnc. l

Cllaptcr I : 0. ... Mu.... olKiap

St0ty 4: A bind of Arab bripncb who have been d..poilina caravans is captured and brought beforc 1 king. One of his minlstcn pleads for the life of the young robber chicr1 IOO and says that with good edut1Uon he will yet become• worthy citiuo. The king dlsqtta, mainllining that I ICtpCDl lives birth to scrpeot1. He alJOW'I the minister to adoPI the boy, but W>fortw>atdy wbco the orpbao pvws up be mwdm his bcndactor and muros to the life o( a bripod. 3.2 Tbe kine is-ted oo a lhrooc in 1 ptdmoforoamaual 8owm and ...... iUnOWlded by his counicn. The elderly minister pleading beforc him points to the small boy who ni1C1 h1t bound lwid.s ~ esc cohi.ngly. The rope restricting him is held by a stout officer who alto lads the ahackkd b111d ol thieves (colour plate). Here attributed to hinter A Folio 14' R~Witkimoa, 1957, ftg. S

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N-: This pointa's bricht pink and darlt .....,, colour 1ebcmc, • wdJ as his cmphnisODdtcontive pl&n.ts, .,. features that .._.. his DeM>snpbkol appcndix.) n.o.,.b Padancb WU DOI apparrocJy pcOOJic, tbc sheep is an ""'°"'pllsbed srudy. lls nws and the ln of dynami1m or

a convincing ttt1tmcnt of the totaJ envirorunent. Bola, the painter of the callignphy border, w11 mnsidcrcd cxpen enoush to do a complex IOC'JlC lhowin,1 the cckbralion of the New Year foe Shah Jahan's biop>phy.1This illu11111ion d.acesfromabout 16S0and wu almosc ccnaioly completed 101I1C yan after the llbwn bord1',

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aruactive love socne masks potential jealous rivalry and tba1 the pt:rftttion of lhe momenl cannot last. A related composition of the same prince seated on a carpeted garden terrace swrounded by four women was auctioned at Sotheby's.'' The work appears to be a seventeenth century copy of a companion piece for chis Beatty miniature. It looks as if 1he original, which may once have been in the royal albums, could well have been done by

Govardhan. 1 1

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4

PWScr·Wibon, 1976, llOI. 109, 111; Et:ti£1ghau5a1, 1961, pL 11. T._.+J~ . IJ: 29S. Betcb, 1978,oo. ) I; '«'d eb , 1913, no. 6S; Wdcb, 1964, no. 47. Sodlcby'•• 27 NO't'. 1974, loc 783.

3.13 Timur in Mongol armour is sitting on a white bone in front of a silver stream bordered by plants and rock cJU$tc:rs which crosses the foreground. diagonally. An anenda.nt behind him oo a black hone held$ a parasol over bi$ bead. Behind them a batt landscape rises 10 a high horizon and gold sky (illustrated). By Govardhan

c. 1620 Veno /11UT1'/>fitm: inscribed on tbie margin with the folio number 20; an inscription on a rock be.low Timur ttads: 'a,,.,a/.jf'OIN1'dlttm ('vroik o( Gova.rdhan'), A funher inscription upper It.ft in Jahangir's haodwriting reads: 11tf,fllyo"4 JholtfJt.i '4frat td~il>-i qirdn ja.114ntrr okbor fMh ('aaid tobe. a likmcssof Haznt Sahib-i Qiran (Timur], (written by] JahangU Akbar Shsh').

&wd.m: Inner border pink, outer buff with aold ~.plants Siu: 22.2 x 14.km Rrwru: in.oer border pink. oott1' buff with gold ftoral $Cn.lill sunoundlna calligraphy by Mir 'Ali Librarymon.bn~·

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Rttwodwud: Arnold and \Villtiosoa• pl. 55 Note: Th.is ponrait of Timur by Govardhan seems to be the right band s.ide of a double page composition showing Tl.Dlur• the dynastic ancestor, facing one of lhe Mughal emperors, probably Akbar. The page may have been one of a series; a similar royal album leaf picturing Shah Jahan and his son Dan is pttKntJy in the Victoria and Alben portion of TM Minto Album.' Both Timur and Shah Jahan are depicted on horseback with a sole attendant holding a symbolic parasol over their head•. While the Mughal emperor and his son are treated in a formal but portrait-like fashion. tM figures on this page are adapted from paintinp of che school of Bihzad or from Bukharan versions of the Bihzad manner, and the depiction is therefore extremely

sryliud. A uniform landscape relates the two pagt$; il shows an open grassy area topped by rock St.reWn hillocks with a foreground sutam running across each leaf. In order to coordinate both compositions with the stylized figures on this page, the landscape i.s slightly adjusted to Persian taste; for example, the flowers - regularly SJ)ICed and unnatun.li.s:tically decorative - imitate Persian painting as does the ltigb, tilted ground plane. The source for Govard.han•s figure of Timur was pttSwnably one of the illustrated Penian manuscripts in the royal library. A manuscript known 10 have been used as

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a model in one case by a female artist named Sahlfa Banu was Bihzad's Z~ar Nama dealing with the exploits of Timur. It is probable that Govardhan's figures also came from a po~ of this manuscript showing Timur prtSiding over his uoops followed by an a.ttendaot with a parasol. The figures arc not in annour as here, and the artist has altered their hand positions, but the puaUels are easily disccmiblc.1 Jahang:ir's inscription on this; minialW'C, noting that il is reputed to be a portrait of Timur, is a furthc:r indication lb.at Govardhan's miniature was taken from a Pers.ian pictoriaJ sour« whk.h the Mughals credited with authenticity. More signi6cantly J the early inscription shows that Timur's depiction was done before the portrait of Shah Jahan and Dan. Though the united landscape of the two min.iarures iru:ticates that they formed a series l:ater. the portraits of Shah Jahan and Dara were done at a period when Dan., born in 1615, was about twmty years, old. Govardhan's composition of Timur is unbalanced u a single page and prawnably was designed to go with a portrait now lost. The facing picture ofSb.ab Jaha.n was then done at least fifteen years later by Govardhan with the wnc bac~d dcWls. A• the folio nwnben of the Timur and Sbal> Jaban depictions are respectively 20 and 23, this might mean that Timur was placed opposite Akbar and that Jahangir was paired wilh his son and grandson on a second double paae. The borders of the tw0 remaining miniat\IJ'e$ also s;u.ggcst that I.hey may have been near each other but were nol matched. Both miniatures have pink inner borders and outer borders on a buffground; the Beatty outer border is, however, decorated with plain gold plants while the Victoria and Alben page has multi-coloured bk>oms. Govudha.n's many styles make him a difficult artist to analyze. The borrowed figures with their Persian antectd.ents have undoubtedly been the major determinant of I.he manner used here.; the composition, including the landscape, is delicate bul dry. This dryness, a. quality that pervades some of Govardb.ao's ocher works, is a direc1 contrast to the canhy scosuous.iry of the previous composition (3. 12). SuchshiflS of mood wttt an imponant constituent of Govardhan's artistic personality wIDch was perhaps the most complex of Jahangjr's artists (see the bioanpltical appendix for further information). 1 S1cbouk.inc, 1929, pt. )6, 1 TbtjlO!tnd of Timur i• found io ArrloW, T , SillMd a4 HU Paiiui¥ De 1.V Ztlfar..N-1tM1M11Scti/11r LoQroduced inGod&td, 1917, tigV.rt 110.

3.14 The haloed Jabangir, somewhat the'"""" for drink or drugs, has hi& ann about a woman and ktns heavily upon her while holding I.he hand ofa favourite consort and gazing al the latter. The group is; behind a bed, on which Jahangjr will prmunably ttelinc, that bas been placed in a ptden between a playing fountain and a pavilion. This pavilion is decorated with murals of deer, above whic-h arc narrow panels of cyprtSSCS twined with Oowering uees. A second pavilion at the rear of the garden is ornamented with decorative niches for porcelain. In addition to thtte other women in the: m.idground, there are twenty-one in the foreground oclcbrating Aoli by playing musical instruments or smearing each other with red powder. Two in the centre fill large squirt guns with coloured water from a jar. Some

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a.tt musicians who hold up tambourines; others bear squin guns, wine cups or cwtrs. There are lrttS al the rear of the garden but much of the surfaoe is covered with rich carpets

became a clichC in eighteenth century compositions.

tttllis surrounding a chronogn.m by Mir 'Ali

Among all the opulent royal family miniatures, this scene is an cxceUen1 indicator of courtly life as well as luxuriance. It gives a vivid impression of the harem, which is not otherwise so freely depK-1ed 1 though the emperor spent a great deal of hi.$ time there. It indeed uniquely reveals Jahangir's indolent sensuality and the atmosphett of hislifeas the only ma.le among so many women. As far as the style of court decoration is concerned, nearly the whole ground atta of the picture is covered by six differenl carpets, demonstnting how the Mugha.ls virtually lnterch.angcd the ftoral carpet and the garden. Noc only the carpets but smaller details such as the cat with gold beads around its neck demonstrate the flamboyant cxuavagance of Jahangir's surroundings.

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(colour plate). Herc a1uibuted to Govardhan man behind the bed in !be Beany miniarure with her arm upraised also seems to be depicted at the left foreground edge of the Frttr miniature and may be some particular female relative of the emperor. Neither the ltol.i miniature nor lhe Freer Gallery composition is signed, but the pair can be attributed stylistically on the basis of Govard.ban's Minto scene showinji Prince Parviz in a prden (3.18) . The palette, !be impressionistic trtts, and the decorative treatment att cl011n oo tbc Umcr border rc1dl: 'o.Mal-i bit.llilt ('work of Bichhr')

Siu: 21. Z1 14.9cm 1Uwn1: Inner border pi.Dk, outer dark blut with aokt ftowcrina plaats, Jia:ncd, '"'11t&l-f o.loi ('woric: of Otullc') i.o lower rich•

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Note: Muhammad Riza Kuhmiri don not appear in historical reference sourca for either Jah1.n1i.r or Sh.ah Jab.an '1 rci.gn1 and much is therefore left unan1wcttd about this minitturc. The dating of the pk-twe, fat example, c:ould b< cakuLtted more specifi poruoit ol Shah Jahao IDd his four...,. pointed Cllly in his raan wbnlf'C$Sive manner. The anist was panicularly adept at capturing intangible qualities pTC$Cnt in pcnonal relationships; in th.is reprd the composition compares " 'ell with Govardhan's

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European naturalism, but, in borrowing European techniques, he should be given credit for pcrttiving (as European painters themselves often did not) how to communicate the psychological as well as the physical. In this m.inLature a Hindu lump/tat or Gorak.hpanthi yogi is listening to two Muslims, one of whom pla)'$ a stringed imtrument calJed a robob. The face of the Muslim singer glows with intensity, and the scnsitivt' fingers touching his throat also seem to express a des.ire to cxtc.mali7~ his emotions. The yogi, placed diameaically opposite, is a study of a different, more ascetic-, kind of concentration. The instrumentalist knttJing between them sctms an eanhy type who throws into relief the singlemindcdncss of his two companions. The suggestion is that the music is devotional, and Govardhan 's pictorial theme thus seems to be the possible oneness of fet-1.ing between Hindus and Muslims - a significant cultural aspiration going back to ptt· Muahal times and to such figures as Kabir. The anist therefore ~ who commonly explores aspects of religiosity in his paintings, bas given this picture a symbolic undercurrent in addition to its psychological ones. A second miniature picturing t"A-O ascetics visited by a Original from

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basis of this inscribed Bcatry work. The second miniature may feature the same yogi who appears in the Beatty depiction, except that in the sooond instance this man bas become the

prince is atuibutablc to Govardhan on the 1

musician and is no more simply a listening wanderer. The thin yogic face, striking in both miniatures, may merely have impressed Govardhan visually or may possibly have belonged 10 a real musician whom lhe pt.inter wished to record a.s a person. Along with seven! other pictures of ascetics either signtd or attributed to the artist, the two miniatures document Govardhan's fascination with devotii>nal life.'

Like the previous leaf, this miniature is one wilh inscribed illuminations. The painter Daulat 1 who produced the border decoration of the pttVious miniature, did the numerous Bowering plants against a gold ground in the calligraphy panel on the reverse here, while the border on the miniaturc side is signed Harif. From the evidence of iMcripwhich i:s Li.kc a swine-'}; undtt the scales: AU41t.M alcbar ri 'odl-i IMJi 111ir ol.Ji11 ja.IWtgir Midli J/ti:r cupis.r•i bw J/tl:r('God is most peal! Because o( the: justice of King Nur al-Din Jahangir the lion bas sucktd milk from the te.Jt of the goat'); to the left of the musket: AU4/n. olcbor niftPIA-i sJ.alt. nMr ol.Jin jolui~:r llM14 rtabU dar Ii chlill b..P,.-i ioqdir ktnkmd as JMnt..i jdns~h bi-Mr da:111 umfn-bllfl fl4laffl M J/ti:r u llOilc/ti:r('God is most great! The: musket of King Nur al-Din Jabangir-like the Judgement of Fate-baa oot error in it; bc:ause of its hca.n-buraign arrow, the Jeopard and the lion and

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M"hl'Ololsh tbt (dicity ol tbt Di'rinc Sbadow•1 com.i.oa, tbc artb is nJacd up on to the Fish-bull' ); berwttft tM bird-of· p&ndix and the crown: hu.uw IUllAptulfM. bi l4jaxn ri,wdd111 ( 'He: thy a.inc &neeslon wi:tt tt0wncd by God'); tbr aamcs o(the ciabt &rKalon plus the emperor's own att givm ia then nine circles ol the standard 11 the ri1ht edge o( the pic1utt: Akb1r, Hum1yun, Blbur, Shaikh Miru, AbuS1'id1 Muhammad Mina, Mino Shah aod Timur. Bdow: 'ata/-.i abw 'I-~ ('worit ol Abu 'l·H.sun') &wdm: inner border dart. blue, (M,l,lf:r border pale pink wi1h aoJd 8owcrina pl&rit,i.

SW: lS.I a 16.5cm RftWW: looa-,,;.t.,.,.,...da:t. bluc widl ..... llonltcn>lls

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Th1s wotk is one of the most intricately conceived

atlc.a:ories commissioned by Jabangir durina tht latttr pan of his reign. The emperor often described life in 1Uegorica.I tcnns in his memoirs and was clearly fascin1tcd with symbols utilized. in the visual ans. The Jesuits ttcord him i.nquirina 1evera.I times for ~lanations o( aymbolism in CluU1ian pointiags. Possibly the ir; Jahangir, how-ewer, had requested miniatun:s featuring compkx imagl.l •l'-

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symbolic ovenoncs to some contemporuy event. Beclusc Shih Jahan is posed with a rifle as if dominalina 1 fu~lf battle, one can assume that there may be tome real buis for conception. Oaulltabad, conquered by the Mughals in l633, is a formidable fortttSS on hilly tern.in defended by • aeries or walls as here. Pa.yag1s drawing is too summary 10 pennit more than a speculative identification, but the fon -important ill Shah Jahan'smiliwy 11ntqy and was later pictured in the P""'1MA NfllM.1 The blir and bclrd ol Shih Jahan.,. still completely dark, and his drewn, twTOW bcc ccmspooda with thc cml>"""• 1ppconocc ill pictwu wben be wu escd lbout fony,1 ThOI thc dalina oi thc wMt ~ be Cllcullted U any liter than 163S when Shih Jahan would hive bccn forty-three. ln 1crm1 ol PaY'J's ca.rccr, dli1 portrait i1 significant for th.rtt reasons. First, it revcab that fairly IOOn after Sh&b J&ba.n'a 1cccssion, Payag, who had painced virtually nolhina now extant for Jahanglr, either Wit or wished to be on good lerma with his new ptuon. Shah Jahan

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is gcocrally chuacterized as being rather indifferml 10 tUs anists, whilt Jabangir cnvisioocd himself as the ideal cultivated sponsor. Payag himself may not have ooocurred with this verdict and evidently responded only when an unprejudiced, efficient and untemperamcotal sovcrcigo

came 10 the lhrooe. Sec:ond, this work for ShahJahanshow> signs of the painter's W1Usual mentality and talen1 not

eviden1 in rus Jahangiri poruai1 of Man Singh (3.31) bu1 apparent only late in the painter's lifetime. Third. this scene is chronologically the first to show the influence of lhe European works that made Payag into a major creative penonality. European motifs remain pan of lhc backaround here and are no1 wholly amaJitma1ed ill10 lh< painter's style, but Payag's fascination with them is evident. The calligraphy on the reverse of this miniature has b«n framed by lhruter border of' ftoftting plants with gold outlines. SWt: 18.7 extc:oded to 19.8 a 10.8cm; with border 33.4 x 20.8 extended to 22.lcm witb plain paper. Rftlff"U: pt.Del or calligraphy tct in gold with duk blue inner

border added ai late date 10 plain paper b9Ck.

Lihrory llMMb...: so.s Note: Tb.is picture and the following both illustrate lhc popular story of lh< patriarch Joseph; !hough no comparable miniatures have been discovered, the rwo scenes probably come from a larger series depicting the legend. Thec:lianaersoflhes1oryare fUlcifully portrayed, since, for example, Joseph is g:ivc:n as:sista.nee by a frivolously dressed young Neither the youlh nor lhe old mullah agree with other paintcn' characteriiations of the brothers of the hero or the mttehants to whom Josc:ph was sold. This painting is in.scribed with tbe name of the anise Muhammad Muqim, k.nown from later works to bcof Bukhara. 1 The other miniature is not by the same hand but is li.kely to have been done by 1 further painter of a seventeenth century Bukharan group. These artists appear to have been ofTurkestani origin, bul 10 have worked for a while in Kashmir and possibly Delhi, where !hey adap1ed t.hemsclVC$ to the Mughal style. Subsequently they mu.med to Bu.kb.l.ra where their work continued to show strong M ughal influence. W'M'thtt lhc Yusuf miniatwes were produced in Kashmir or Delhi is not disoernible from the works themselves. Both pictures show that the artists bad assimilated the techniques of modelling characteristic of painting in Shah Jahan's reign, though there is a tentative quality about filling the compositional space which reveals some insecuricy with the idiom. From lhe evidence of the slanted eyes and sharp face in tl1e centre of Muhammad Muqim's picture, this painter had seen Kashmiri works done in lhe manner of Muhammad Nadir of Samarqand.

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with.in. the album. n.c genera) impression aivcn l1 that artists were t.ittd of routine assignments and r. Among the Beatty depictions of such men a.re those of the Jodhpur rti• who wos Shih Jalwt's matemol gnnd!1ther (3.48) ond the Hindu who ruscl.,..t CM). Other ponnits, such u Lbooc of 'Abdullah Qutb Shah, corry a refcrcnc< to Shih Johan's ya.rsollet'Yice mthe Oecan. 'There an: alto a number

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of holy m1e 1can) Dwb&r or Sllllh Jdw:I, b1 'A.bid,opo. OL, no. (poaibk leaf?) Elderly St.h Jahui with Mal KbaD, b, Bichitr. f/9· ril., DO. SS.

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Eldttly Sllab abaft, Sotheb(9-, 10 July 1961, lol: 11. Ekkrlr Sl>ah wi!h a SwC of the SAahJ..W• N"""' all poin1ed poothumou.tly. Jo th, whkh rccm1< Shah Johan's ICO>iticsduringhis f1ther'1reign, Biknmliil is always placed prominently and indeed hoe was in an eminent position. He and the prince comprised 1 team rdlecting the oew spirit ol th< MUJbal cmpiro quality thls painting and a funhal offi= with a bean! wftriog a whit< jnlO Mands apinst a plain buff pound with $1iaJ>t indications oi lancbcapc and sky ( illustnucd).

c. 1710 '""",..... ,..,..... ('Ginp Ram') Sl.u:21.2x I0.8cm U'br""Y " ""'"": 42.3 Nole: The importanc:e of the anist Ganga Ram lies in his rclationlhip co the Lucknow pain1er Mihr Cband who sianiUVy rbythmic: ide&I, IOWldin& tbe hone's rump lllld cheoc, for example, so that tbcy rqis