Mughal Miniature Paintings

The name Mughal derives from Mongol. The rulers however referred to themselves as
Timurids, as descendants of Turkish Ruler Timur on the paternal side. The conquest of
the Mughals in 1526 began a period of marked change in the culture and art in the
Indian subcontinent. While it replaced the earlier established Sultanate
dynasties, it also ushered in a cultural renaissance of the arts, most particularly in
painting. Mughal court was a showcase for the best and finest artifacts and art.

The Mughal court gave a lot of importance to the visual order. It has been pointed out
that the historical, literary, biographical sources point to an almost limitless ordering of
visual experiences. The Mughal Emperors attained great power in India from 1526 to
1757. They created magnificent architecture and developed fine arts and culture.
Miniature painting is a traditional style of art that is very detailed, often referred to as
painting or working “in miniature”. They were made on smaller scales since the purpose
was to record chronicles and preserves the stories and happenings of the time.

Origins of Mughal Atelier

After Babur defeated Ibrahim Lodi Sultan of Delhi (1517-1526) at Panipat in 1526, he
added Delhi to his emp ire which now stretched from Jaunpur through the Punjab into
Afghanistan and Central Asia. The great cities built by the Mughal emperors at Delhi,
Agra and Lahore still retain something of the magnificence that was associated with the
Mughal dynasty during the seventeenth century.

The major Mughal emperors were:

● Babur (1526-30)
● Humayun (1530-56)
● Akbar (1556-1605)
● Jahangir (1605-27)
● Shah Jahan (1627-58)
● Aurangzeb (1658-1707)

Mughal paintings didn’t gain momentum until Akbar’s reign, there is little evidence of
Babur’s interest in art. Huymayun brought forward a method of storing information after
his exile, he realised painting and chronicles can be important to make sure the history
is known to people. Mughal miniature paintings peaked during Akbar's reign because of
his huge interest in art and architecture. Thanks to his love for art, Indian miniature
paintings combined elements of Persian style of painting, to give rise to the unique
Mughal style of painting.

Mughal Miniature Paintings

Mughal manuscripts were generally illustrated with beautiful miniature paintings. Art
itself is a reflection of time and society, it provides a clear illustration of the Mughal court
and society. The important illustrated Mughal manuscripts include the Akbarnama,
Hamzanama, Baburnama, Shahnama, Tarikh-i-Kandan-Timuriya, Kalilah-wa-Dimnah
under the title Iyar-i-Danish, the Ms. of the Anwar-i-Suhaili, Jahangirnama, the
Shahjahan-nama, and many more.

Mughal paintings were not inspired by spiritual thoughts or religion, they strived to
present fact as it is under the command of their emperor. The artists were required to
work according to wish of the emperor. Despite heavy restrictions on freedom of
expression, artists held a respectable position in court and were often rewarded by the
emperor.

The miniatures help to trace the developments and changes in such aspects of social
life as customs, rituals, dress, and habits. The Mughal painting soon became popular
among rulers as they found the idea of portraying themselves interesting and royal in
many ways. It was also a great artistic medium to display their bravery and
achievements.

Paintings Under Akbar

Akbar's rule began with the Mughal empire being in a state of uncertainty. His objective
as a ruler was to consolidate and make the imperial authority more accepted
throughout. He extended the conquered area from Khandahar to Deccan. He was able
to solidify Mughal control in Northern India by 1572, now being free to create a new
culture and new habits, a new way of thinking about art. The extraordinary paintings
under Akbar did not emerge out of the blue. The visual culture of the Mughal court and
the visual extravagance rose in a new cultural and social societal context.

His evolution as both a ruler and a person was crucial to the development of Mughal
painting. One of the greatest achievements of Mughal painting under

Akbar may be found in the stupendously illustrated Hamzanama or Dastan-e-Amir

Hamza, a narration of the legendary exploits of Amir Hamza.

The size of this manuscript was unprecedented: spanning 14 volumes, it originally

contained 1400 illustrations of an unusually large size (approx. 25″ x 16″).

The art produced by Akbar’s atelier became ways in which Akbar could communicate in
a new visual language regarding his radical social, political and cultural combination.

Books themselves were a symbol of wealth since the production required a lot of
manpower and processes. They represented status, intelligence and power. Despite not
being able to read or write, Akbar left a library of more than 2000 books behind after his
death. He refused to ignore any aspect of culture and power, this enforcing himself as a
divine ruler.

Other famous paintings commissioned by Akbar include ‘Gulistan’, ‘Darab Nama’,

‘Khamsa of Nizami’, ‘Baharistan’, etc. ‘Gulistan’, which was Saadi Shirazi's masterpiece,
was created at Fatehpur Sikri. From 1570 to 1585, Akbar hired more than a hundred
painters who practiced Mughal paintings in his court.

Features of painting under Mughals

● Realism was keynote of the mughal painting

● Paintings were secular in nature.
● Use of foresightening technique.
 ● Calligraphy was extensively used.

Paintings Under Jahangir

Much like his father, Jahangir too had an inclination toward arts, which proved beneficial
for the growth of Mughal art. However, he developed interest in European style of
painting and that is why the style of Mughal paintings changed starkly. This gave a
whole new perspective to the Mughal painting. As a result, most of the Mughal paintings
commissioned by Jahangir had finer brush strokes and lighter colors. One of the major
projects commissioned by him was the ‘Jahangirnama'. It was an autobiography of
Jahangir and it consisted of several paintings that included unusual themes, such as
fights between spiders.

Jahangir had a sharp eye to detail, both in man and nature, which is why fine imagery is
portrayed in art of his era.

Features under Jahangir

● He was a naturalist which means he drew

● figures based on themes related to flora and fauna.
● He emphasised on portrait paintings.
● Most of the paintings were having decorated margins.

Paintings under Shah Jahan

Although Shah Jahan shared the same love for art as his predecessors, the Mughal
style of painting took a sharp turn from what was seen previously.

Paintings continued to develop however, court depictions became more rigid and
formal. Though, he reduced the number of court painter since he was more interested
in architecture than painting. Nonetheless, his name is still noted as prominent in case
of Mughal Art.

Techniques of Miniature Paintings

The painting technique used was simple, consisting of opaque watercolor on paper. The
artist began by laying out the composition with charcoal or thin black ink applied with
either a brush or pen. The paper may have been burnished beforehand. A thin layer of
opaque watercolour was brushed over the under-drawing. This layer covered the paper,
but was translucent enough to reveal the under-drawing beneath.

Further layers of paint were added to the ground with artists working from larger to
smaller areas of color and from more diffuse to more detail.

At this stage, the painting was usually burnished by being placed face down on a
smooth slab of stone. The back of the paper was rubbed with a smooth stone, inset into
a wooden holder. Burnishing was repeated frequently during the painting process.

Towards the end of the process, final outlining, usually in black, of the design elements
was done.

Culture

The Mughals adopted some rituals and ceremonies of Hindu kings like Tuladan. The
kings and princes were weighed against gold and silver, precious cloths and foodstuffs
which were later distributed among the poor.

Akbar aimed to expand his views and approach culturally and worked towards showing
it in court and the empire. He added people of other religion in his court to hear the
opinions of everyone. He introduced Jharokha Dharshan, an activity meant to show
everyone the face of the emperor after devotional prayers. Akbar gave importance to
consolidate more land and people, through creative means and truly including and
respecting differences.

The Mughal art was not only limited to the court but it inspired others as a new way of
storytelling and expression of life.
Akbar presiding over a religious debate in the Ibadat-khana with Jesuit Fathers Rudolph
Aquaviva and Francis Henriquez in the city of Fatehpur Sikri in 1578

Mughal India, copied 1640, illustrations late 17th century. A story from moralistic work,
from the Gulistan, tells of a king caught in need of shelter while on a hunting trip.