Brief history
In 1526, Babur established the mughal empire, which
lasted for over 200 years.They ruled most of the Indian
subcontinent by 1600. The mughal emperorsmarried local
royalty ,allied themselves with the local maharajas &
attempted tofuse their turko-persian culture with ancient
Indian styles.The mughal dynasty  reached its peak during
the reign of Akbar and it went into aslow decline after the
death of Aurangzeb  in 1707 and was finally
defeatedduring the war of independence in 1857

Art and craft d

u
rin
g
m
ug
hal era
The Mughal era was the golden period in the history
of Indian art, craft andculture. The Mughals not only
invaded India and ruled it but also brought withthem
a rich heritage, which they had acquired from Persia.
They introduced newtechniques like inlay work,
glass engraving, carpet weaving, brocades,
enamelingetc. The Mughal miniature paintings
influenced many schools of Rajasthanipaintings and
the Kangra Pahari schools of miniatures. The famous
PeacockThrone of the Mughals is one of the finest
examples of gem inlay work and metalcraft, having
few parallels in world art. They also laid the
foundation for thefamous Mughal miniature
painting, Petra dura or inlay work, enameled
jewelleryand a host of other craft traditions many of
which continue today

Emperor akbar : a
g
reat patron of art
Akbar assisted artists in the field of music and painting.
And for the augment of these arts, Emperor Akbar had
had employed more than one hundred painterswho were
expert in the art of miniature painting.In the time of
Akbars reign, the Mughal Miniature painting was the
secular art,dealing with court life, durbar scenes and
portraits of royal men and women. Theminiature paintings
had depicted the costumes and the ornaments, which
wereprevalent in the time of medieval India.The Mughal
emperor Akbar was a great patron of painting and under
whosesponsorship painters had achieved great refinement.
These artists had renderedexquisite detail of the Indian
men and women and the costumes they wear. Herethe
three dancing ladies depict the exotic costumes used
during the medievalperiod in India. One of these ladies is
dressed in such a manner that we can saythat she belongs
to a royal family.

 
The
u
cost

me of 
M
ug
hal women
The ladies of the Mughal dynasty were as
remarkable as their men and in certaincases even
more cultivated. The way these beautiful, educated
and extremelytalented mughal women used to dress
became a matter of interest for many.Royal women
wore beautiful clothes made from the finest
materials and adornedjewellery from head to toe.
They used to spend a lot of money in getting
forthemselves fine silks, brocades and muslins from
which they got stitch beautifulgarments.They were
mostly covered in white colored veil because of the
prevalent purdahsystem and they could not go out on
the street without the veil otherwise theywere forced
to join the profession of prostitution.
Early cost
u
mes
When the Mughal ladies first set their foot in India
they were dressed in longgowns, caps and trousers.
And upto the time of akbar,Persian dress was worn
bymuslins but during Akbars time rajput dress
was adopted.
y
 
An inner garment or
k 
artiji 
was invariably worn beneath the gown as ashort
bodice reaching to the hips.
y
 
Another jacket or
n
imte
n
a
was frequently put over the dress somewhatlike a
vest (Gulbadan begam, the daughter of Babar while
describing mirzahindals marriage in her memoirs,
mentions nine jackets with garnitures of jeweled
balls and four shortered jackets with bal
trimmings among thearticles of dowry for the bride
Sultana begam. 

 
The effect of these gorgeous dresses embroidered
with gold and pearlswas astonishing. So in a whole
the early Mughal costume for womenconsisted of
wide topped trousers fitting snuggly from calf to
ankle, longkurta, fitted outer jacket, dupatta, high
Turkish hats, sometimes with  asmall veil attached
and some feathers too.

later
M
ug
hal Cost
u
mes
 They consisted of:Long sleeved choliIsar (often
striped)Brocade vestShort and long ghagra (often in
sheer material)Silk or muslin dupattaApron (with
embroidery) and farji (long sheer vest like
garment)Long sleeved floor length gown with a sari
that drapes from the jeweledembroidered
crown.Ornate turban
Textiles
Under the mughal patronage the textile industry
blossomed and till the end of the18
th
century india could be described as one of the
workshops of  the world .Abul Fazal mentions
among the golden staffs current in his time,
brocaded velvetsfrom Europe and Yazd, atlas satins
and neyar from the Chinese territory, tefailahfrom
mecca, khara or moiré antique from Yazd and khazz
or filoselle silk,muttabhaq, milak and fauthas from
various places. Gujarat supplies differentkinds of
brocades such a tus, daraibaf, kurtahwar and
muqayyash which was kindof silk cloth with stripes
of silver resembling the hair. Chiras and dupattas
fromGujarat supplied the cloth for the turbans. Plain
silk cloth included qatifah-i-purbi,tajehbef, shirvani,
kinkhab, tawar, khuri, tafta, sitapuri, ambary, misry,
tasar,tafailah, etc.  Of cotton stuffs the more familiar
types were khasa, chautar,malmal, baftu, salu, chhint
or printed muslin, gazina, etc. A form of fine
muslinwhich was striped or checked was known as
doriyah.
 
M
ug
hal jewellery
M
ughal treasury was one of the fullest and best
endowed in all of Indian history, and
thereforejewellery too must have occupied a place of
prominence. 
Influ
e
nc
es o
n
M
ugh
a
l
Jewe
ll
ery
 
The existing trends in jewellery under the Mughals
were a continuation of the amalgamated style
of Islamic and Hindu artistic styles. India was
blessed as the only significant source of diamonds
beforetheir discovery in Brazil in the 18th century,
and she was also made rich by her spices; but more
thanany other resource, it was her art industries
(most especially textiles, but also including a whole
array of specialized and sophisticated products)
which she traded for the gold and silver that poured
in by theton.  I
nfluence of Rajputs
 Some of the finest goldsmiths` works have been
produced under the Mughal patronage. The
colourswere exclusive to Jaipur. Its princesses
married Mughal royalty and its rulers had taken high
positions atcourt, both bringing their jewellery and,
probably, their craftsmen with them. Hindus do not
wear gold on the feet, as it is a sacred metal, which
would thus be defiled. However, inRajasthan `the
anklet of gold (worn by men) worn on one or both
feet is a proof of nobility as well as of being entitled
to a certain position at a Durbar, and to certain
honours there. 
European
I
nfluence on Mughal Jewellery
 Among the Mughal jewellery pieces which have
survived. Some of the earliest ones show the
gradualinfluence of Europeanism. The scrolling leaf
designs on the inner surface of a thumb ring are
influencedby Renaissance jewellery. A more
significant European intrusion can be seen in turban
jewellery where acompletely new form seems to
have its source in European hat aigrettes.
Style of Mughal Jewellery
 Akbar`s own style of jewellery was a hybrid of
Iranian and Hindu influences, as would be expected
of theemperor of a dynasty whose cultural roots
were in Iran.
‡
The turban plume (Kalgi or Figha) and golden bands
(Sarpich) are exactly those seen incontemporary
Safavid painting.
‡
His necklaces on the other hand are of the kinds
listed in Kautilya`s Arthashastra, consisting
of pearls, pearls and gems, gold on its own, or gold
with pearls and gems.

M
ug
hal
u
architect

re
‡
Shah Jehan was the most prolific Mughal builder,
and built some of itsgreatest structures, the most
famous of which is the Taj Mahal. Akbar was agreat
builder, second only to Shah Jehan and built some of
the finest workof the Mughal period. The greatest of
Akbar's buildings are located inFathepur Sikri, a city
which was built near Agra. Over here there are
manybeautiful buildings like Jodh Bai's palace,
Diwan-I-Am (hall for the generalaudience), Diwan-
I-Khas(hall for private audience), the marble
mosqueknown as the Jama Masjid, the Bulund
Darwaza a massive archway and thePanch Mahal.
‡
Red fort and some mughal gardens were a 
   Acknowled
g
ement
We wish to express my sincere gratitude to
PROF.Tolika gupta , centrecoordinator fashion
design department new Delhi for providing us  an
opportunityto do the  project work on Mughal
Women Costume. this assignmentenlightened us
with the costume and culture of Mughal era . we
extend ourgratitude to toolika maam, anu jain
maam  for guidance and encouragement
incarrying out this project work.I also wish to
express my gratitude to the staff member of nift
liabrary . Last butnot least I wish to avail myself of
this opportunity, express a sense of gratitudeand love
to my friends and my beloved parents for their
manual support,strengtoh, help and for everythin
lso made.
 
M
ug
hal women jewellery
‡
A contemporary work, the Ain-i-Akbari, gives a list
of ornaments worn bythe women of Hindustan.
Some of these may be seen virtually unchangedand
by this time worn equally by Muslim ladies.
‡
The ornaments include the Karanphul (`earflower`),

which is shaped lik e theblossom of love-in-

the-mist (Nigella sativa), and Nath (nose ring). The
Nath(in the form of a circular gold wire threaded
with a ruby between twopearls, or other gemstones)
‡
Duarte Barbosa, the Portuguese official  explained
the ornaments of theMughal women as in the side of
one of the nostrils they used to make asmall hole,
through which they put a fine wire with a pearl,
sapphire orruby pendant. Other types, such as the
Mang (worn on the parting of thehair to add to its
beauty) and Bali, (a circlet with a pearl worn through
theear) were worn throughout the period. 
‡
The few images of ladies at
Akb
ar
`s court show that the divisions markingIndian and
Iranian jewellery may have been observed more
clearly than inthe case of the emperor`s ornaments.
The dancers in the illustration fromthe Akbarnama
of century 1590 are both Muslim and Hindu and
wearclearly differentiated styles of jewellery in
accordance with their origins. By the time Akbar`s
son,
Jahangir
 
, came to the throne, fashions at courthad undergone
a dramatic transformation.
‡
. Akbar followed the Iranian fashion by having his
upright feather plume atthe front of the turban.
‡
Jahangir introduced his own, softer, style with the
plume weighted downwith a large pearl. Later,
Shah Jahan
, his son turned to Europe for aninnovative Jigha,
which related to the designs of the Dutch jeweller
ArnoldLulls. Lulls supplied jewels to the English
court between 1603 and 1606.Shah Jahan also wore
jewels by James I in the portraits brought to the
courtby Sir Thomas Roe