South Asian Studies

ISSN: 0266-6030 (Print) 2153-2699 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rsas20

Yoga under the Mughals: From Practice to

Paintings

Rachel Parikh

To cite this article: Rachel Parikh (2015) Yoga under the Mughals: From Practice to Paintings,
South Asian Studies, 31:2, 215-236, DOI: 10.1080/02666030.2015.1094207

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02666030.2015.1094207

Published online: 27 Oct 2015.

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 South Asian Studies, 2015
Vol. 31, No. 2, 215–236, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02666030.2015.1094207

Yoga under the Mughals: From Practice to Paintings

Rachel Parikh*
The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Although yoga is now India’s greatest global commodity, it has been practiced on the subcontinent for over two
thousand years. This paper looks at a small, yet significant moment in its long, fluid history. It examines how yoga
developed into a religious practice that then hardened into the customs and culture of Hindu ascetics (sadhus).
When the Mughals, who comprised India’s greatest Islamic empire, came to power, yoga’s two main traditions,
ancient and Tantric, began to evolve into the ascetic orders of the Daśanāmī Samnyāsīs, the Nāths, and eventually
the Rāmānandīs. The Mughals, like their Islamic predecessors (who will also briefly be discussed in this paper),
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were fascinated by yoga and its proclaimed possibilities, from its ultimate goal of obtaining enlightenment to even
more powerful abilities, such as gaining dominion of the highest gods. Emperors Akbar (r. 1556-1605), Jahangir (r.
1605-1627), and Shah Jahan (r. 1627-1658) not only called for Persian translations of Sanskrit works on yoga, but
also verbal and visual documentation of their personal encounters with ascetics. Most importantly, they called for
systematic studies of yoga exercises, so they, like Hindu holy men, can access its powers. For scholars, these works,
particularly the paintings, continue to serve as learning devices, but in a different way. They shed light on the
evolution of yoga, as well as bear witness to the subcontinent’s ever changing societal, political, and religious
landscape and how yogis struck a balance between preserving their faith and adjusting to the political, societal, and
religious changes around them.
Keywords: Yoga; History of Yoga; Mughal Painting; Hindu Iconography; Religion and Art; South Asian Art; Hindu
asceticism

Introduction ‘liberation’ of the soul. Others looked to yoga and its

Although yoga is now India’s greatest global commodity,
it has been practiced on the subcontinent for over two
thousand years. It is a religious (Hindu, Buddhist, and
Jain) discipline, which evolved into different schools,
practices, and goals that are unified by the ultimate
objective to connect the mind to the body, the spiritual
to the physical.1
The oldest possible depiction of yoga is an Indus
Valley seal created between 2600 and 1900 BC
(Fig. 1) from the ancient city of Mohenjo-Daro. It
depicts a figure, believed to be the proto-Shiva god
Rudra Paśupati (Lord of the Beasts), maintaining a
position similar to the padmāsana pose.2 About five
hundred years later, the Vedas, the oldest scriptures of
Hinduism are penned, which reference yoga as part of
the religion’s practices. In the third century, the exer-
cises and philosophies of yoga began to spread across
northern India, and were codified by Patanjali in the
foundational texts, the Yoga Sutras. By this time,
devout Hindu ascetics (sadhus) were renouncing con-
ventional society to ‘devote themselves to breath con-
trol, meditation, and austerities.’3 Most ascetics saw
in yoga spiritual power and possibility, and used its
techniques to obtain their ultimate quest: moksha or
meditative exercises to harness magical Tantric
powers. Patanjali addressed both routes, discussing
enlightenment ‘while making it clear that an accom-
plished yogi can perform all sorts of useful tricks:
flying, transmigrating, reading other people’s minds,
and even defying death itself’.4 Later, the
Khecraividya, a fifteenth century text by Adinatha,
promises that yoga will help sadhus and mystical
adepts achieve occult powers and ultimately immor-
tality. According to Adinatha, the practice can assist
with finding buried treasure; provide one with the
strength of ten thousand elephants and a body as
incorruptible as diamonds; help enter subterranean
realms; assist in associating with great ghouls, ghosts,
snakes, and demons; provide power over zombies and
genies; and allow for one to gain dominion over the
highest gods.’5 In other words, through yoga, ascetics
and adepts can transcend the physical and spiritual
realms and use it to access good and dark superna-
tural forces.
Yoga’s promises of enlightenment and unlocking uni-
versal mysteries not only shaped Hindu ascetic practices,
but also captured the attention of Muslims within and
beyond India’s borders. This is especially true for the
Mughals, who comprised the most powerful Islamic

*Email: rachel.parikh@metmuseum.org

© 2015 The British Association for South Asian Studies

 216 Rachel Parikh
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1. Paśupati Seal. Mohenjo-Daro, 2600-1900 BC, excavated from Sindh province, Pakistan, 1920s, stone. New Delhi: National
Museum.
empire to the subcontinent. The emperors Akbar
(r. 1556-1605), Jahangir (r. 1605-1627), and Shah Jahan
(r.1627-1658) called for systematic studies of yoga and of
its enigmatic and esoteric practitioners. They would
spend time with yogis and sadhus, and documented
these encounters, along with Persian translations of
Sanskrit yoga works, verbally and visually as learning
devices. Today, these records, especially the paintings,
continue to serve this purpose, but in a different way.
Mughal miniatures shed light on ascetic-yogi practices
during the early modern period, and particularly high-
light the evolution of the ancient and Tantric traditions of
yoga into the ascetic orders of the Daśanāmī Samnyāsīs,
the Nāths, and eventually the Rāmānandīs. By looking at
the Mughal’s inadvertent impact on the history of yoga,
this article hopes to contribute to the small but significant
scholarship on the subject, such as the work of James
Mallinson.6

Early Muslim Encounters with Yoga
It should first be addressed that the Mughals were not
the first Muslims to have encountered and taken an
interest in yoga. In fact, it was a widespread phenom-
enon for the Islamic population within and beyond the
Indian subcontinent. The Islamic scholar and polymath,
Abu al-Rayhan Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Biruni (b.
973-1048), wrote several treatises on Indology and
translated a version of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras into
Arabic.7 The translation focuses more on the philoso-
phical rather than the spiritual and Hindu aspects of
yoga practice. Al-Buruni inspired other Muslim scho-
lars and figures to learn more about the mystical and
philosophical teachings affiliated with yoga, a move-
ment that lasted for eight centuries. The plethora of
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indigenous Hindu narratives that extolled the awesome
powers of yogis augmented this campaign, encouraging
the Muslims of South Asia to not only seek out and
further research these tomes, but also to meet and inter-
act with these holy men personally. The fourteenth
century North African traveler Ibn Battuta documented
Sultan Muhammad ibn Tughluq of Delhi’s
(r. 1324-1351) interview with a yogi who was ‘success-
fully demonstrating his ability to levitate in the air.’8
Akbar recorded in his memoirs, the Akbarnama, meet-
ings with the famous Hindu sadhu Gosain Jadrup, one
of which was pictorially documented (Fig. 2). Jahangir,
also met with the holy man, discussing it in his own
memoirs, the Jahangirnama.9 Thus, the reception and
interest of yoga ranged from studying its philosophies,
to practicing it spiritually, to obtaining occult powers.
Although current religious and political ideologies
have created an opposition between Islam and
Hinduism, historically, there had been a great interac-
tion between the two denominations. Muslims were able
to identify with several Hindu religious and philosophi-
cal concepts, particularly that of yoga. For example,
they could draw out similarities between the practices
of Hindu ascetics and Muslim ones, known as fakirs and
dervishes. These Muslim holy men were commonly
affiliated with Sufism, a mystical branch of Islam. Like
yogis, Sufis concentrated on achieving the highest levels
of spirituality, and did so by following ishan or ‘perfect
worship’. Sufism was introduced to India between the
eleventh and twelfth centuries, just when, coinciden-
tally, the practices of hathayoga, which places great
importance on physical exercises10, were reaching
their zenith.11 Sufis were interested in the yogic teach-
ings and powers of mantras (sacred sounds and sylla-
bles) and chakras (energy points of the spiritual body),
because of the parallels to zikr (formulaic chants of the
Arabic names of God) and to al-lata’if as-sitta (‘the six
subtleties’ of the spiritual body), respectively. They also
quickly adapted asanas (physical postures) and
South Asian Studies 217
pranayama (breath control) into their ascetic worship,
as it was similar to their own meditative practices.12
Through their interest in yoga, Sufis further exposed
Muslims to the Hindu practice. Mu’in al-Din Chishtī
(b. 1141-1236), founder of the Sufi Chishtī order in
India, is responsible for patronizing and promoting
Persian and Arabic translations of Sanskrit texts on
yoga, as well as Muslims works on the subject. He is
particularly affiliated with the Risala-i Wujudiyya
(‘Treatise on the Human Body’), which is also known
as Risala-i Sarmaya-i Jog (‘Treatise on the Nature of
Yoga’).13 Divided into three chapters, the text discusses
Allah and the Prophet Muhammad; hathayoga; now
unintelligible mantras that are linked to chakras; and
the concept of body-universe, microcosm-macrocosm.
The first major work solely dedicated to yoga is the
anonymously written, Indo-Persian text, Kamaru pan-
chasika (‘The Fifty Verses of Kamarupa’). It discusses
different types of meditations associated with different
chakras, as well as an extensive section on breath con-
trol. The title refers to the Assam kingdom of
Kamarupa (350-1140) to enhance the text’s validity, as
it is historically known as a place of magic and occult
powers. This intention proved to be helpful since the
text was widely circulated not only in India, but also in
Persia. For example, the Kamaru panchasika appears in
a section on meditation and chakras in a Persian ency-
clopedia created in Shiraz by Sharaf al-Din Amuli (d.
1353).14 In addition, the Italian traveler Pierro della
Valle came across the text while in Persia in 1622.
This manuscript, now housed at the Vatican, includes
a chapter on invoking the powers of sixty-four yoginis,
female practitioners of yoga, through various mantras in
order to obtain ones goals, especially those supernatural
in nature.15 More importantly, it discusses the forces and
yogini worship of the Hindu Tantric goddess
Kamakhya, whose main temple happens to be where
the Kamarupa kingdom presided.16 Depictions of yogi-
nis are typically shown with a plantain and or cave, a
symbol of the goddess.17
Another important text is the Hawd ma’al-hayat
(The Pool of the Water of Life). Although written
by an anonymous Muslim author, it is essentially an
Arabic translation of the famous Sanskrit work,
Amritakunda (The Pool of Nectar).18 The translation,
interestingly enough, focuses on the spiritual rather
than the philosophical aspects of hathayoga. However,
the translation is generously appropriated for an
Islamic audience. For instance, the text begins with
the invocation and praise of Allah and the Prophet
Muhammad. Furthermore, the Hindu gods Brahma
and Viṣṇu are replaced with the Islamic and
Abrahamic prophets Ibrahim (Abraham) and Musa
(Moses) respectively.19 Famous yogis, such as the
eleventh century master Gorakhnāth, are also
 218 Rachel Parikh
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2. Emperor Akbar and Gosain Jadrup, India, Mughal Dynasty, ca. 1625-1630, opaque watercolor and gold on paper. 46.4 × 30.9 cm;
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Grenville L. Winthrop, Class of 1886, 1937.20.

substituted with prophets.20 The Amritakunda was
translated into Persian as the Bahr al-hayat (The
Ocean of Life) by the Indian Sufi master
Muhammad Ghawth Gwaliyari of the Shattari order
(d. 1563) in the sixteenth century.21 The volume
revised and expanded upon its Arabic counterpart,
even incorporating ‘oral communications from con-
temporary yogis’.22 While the Arabic version only
discussed five asanas, the Persian edition contains
descriptions of twenty-one asanas, which are typi-
cally illustrated (Fig. 3).23
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3. Shtamba (Persian, thamba). From Muhammad Gwath
Gwaliori’s Bahr al-hayat (‘The Ocean of Life’), 1550. India,
Uttar Pradesh, Allahabad, 1600-1604, opaque watercolor on
paper. 13.6 × 7.8 cm.; © The Trustees of the Chester Beatty
Library, Dublin: 16.26b.
South Asian Studies 219
India in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries
continued to see a production of Persian sources on
yoga. However, the majority of these were not written
by Muslim authors, but by Hindu munshis (‘secre-
taries’) that worked for the administration of the
Mughal Empire.24 In addition, Hindu scholars contrib-
uted to the large corpus of works that were commis-
sioned by the emperors (Akbar, Jahangir, and Shah
Jahan), on Hindu religious concepts and practices, as
well as assisted court biographers, like Abu’l Fazl, in
including these subjects in emperors’ memoirs. While
it has been demonstrated that South Asian Muslims
have had a long relationship with yoga, it is the
Mughals who are greatly credited for highlighting the
impact of the discipline and Hindu asceticism on Indo-
Islamic culture, not only through text, but also through
image. These illustrations serve as a visual testament
to the intricate interactions that Muslims had with
yoga, as well as document the ascetic orders that
grew from it.
The Traditions of Yogic Asceticism in Mughal India
Two types of ascetic-yogi traditions are outlined within
a corpus of Sanskrit works written between the eleventh
and fifteenth centuries on the hatha method of yoga.
The first tradition has been around since the first mil-
lennium BC and practiced by, what James Mallinson
calls, ‘ascetic archetypes’; yogis that are partially or
completely naked, have ashes smeared on their bodies,
have long beards, and wear their hair long and drea-
dlocked (jatā).25 They use physical exercises and bodily
mortification, such as holding one’s arms in the air for
years, to balance body and mind. The ancient practice is
commonly known as the ‘Samnyāsī’ tradition. The sec-
ond tradition, which is nearly contemporary to the
Mughal Empire, is Tantric yoga. The
Hathapradipika26, a fifteenth century text, states, that,
although Tantric practices are based on the ancient
ascetic methods27, they also consist of meditations and
exercises that range from subtle to extreme to invoke
and provoke different energy points or chakras28 along
the body’s central column. While the ancient and Tantric
traditions are unified by the ultimate goal of achieving
moksha and its followers becoming siddhas (enligh-
tened beings), their approaches are disparate. The
Samnyāsīs use supernatural practices such as overcom-
ing hunger and thirst, while Tantric yogis attempt much
more extreme measures, such as levitation, and even
flying.29 However, because of their shared purpose and
the fact that Tantric yoga essentially evolved from hatha
practices, there was a confluence and mixing of both
traditions. Their exchanges were further encouraged by
the lack of emphasis on sectarianism in hathayoga texts.
 220 Rachel Parikh
For example, the earliest text to teach hathayoga, which
was penned in the thirteenth century, states: ‘Whether a
Brahmin, an ascetic, a Buddhist, a Jain, a Skull-Bearer
or a materialist, the wise one who is endowed with the
faith and constantly devoted to the practice of hatha
yoga will attain complete success’. 30
A Mughal painting dated to the early seventeenth
century from the Gulshan Album (Fig. 4) shows the two
groups of holy men in a landscape. At the bottom right
are the ‘ascetic archetypes’, gathered around a banyan
tree. At the top are the Tantric yogis, who share their
essential attributes with the ascetics but also possess
contemporary characteristics. In the majority of
Mughal paintings, including this one, they are depicted
with contemporary traits and executing contemporary
practices, such as wearing hooped earrings, sitting
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around fires, gathering piles of ash (denoted by the
spade in one of the ascetic’s hands here), in the company
of dogs, and drinking suspensions of cannabis.31 While
the Gulshan Album image demonstrates some simila-
rities and interaction between ancient and Tantric
groups, it also makes clear their differences. Although
they share the same theories, philosophies, and prac-
tices, their lineages are distinct. 32 In fact, their depiction
in Mughal paintings represents a significant point in the
tradition and evolution of yoga, in which these groups
were just beginning to emerge into the separate sects
that we know today.
The yogis that practice the ancient hatha traditions
represent a division of a current group that is comprised
of two ascetic orders, the Daśanāmī (Ten Name)
Samnyāsīs and the Rāmānandīs. The Daśanāmī
Samnyāsīs are one of India’s most popular ascetic
orders, with their naked (Naga) sect greatly participat-
ing in the triennial mass Hindu pilgrimage of Kumbh
Mela. Today, the Daśanāmī Samnyāsīs associate them-
selves with the Hindu god Śiva. 33 However, Mughal
paintings do not depict them bearing any markings of
Śiva. In fact, these works reveal that the Daśanāmī
Samnyāsīs identified themselves with the god Viṣṇu.34
For example, the Akbarnama (Memoirs of Akbar) con-
tains an illustration spread over two folios of the Battle
of Thaneshwar (Fig. 5a, b). The Battle, which will later
be discussed in depth, was fought between two bands of
yogis over the sacred pilgrimage site of Thaneswar,
located near Delhi. Upon close inspection, emblazoned
on the chest of one of the yogi warriors in the bottom
right corner is Ramā (Fig. 6). 35 It should be mentioned
that, although not clearly written, the same markings
appear on the body of an ascetic in the Gulshan Album
image (Fig. 4), and thus must also read as Ramā. The
majority of the figures in the Battle of Thaneshwar
depiction bear a distinctive V-shape mark on their fore-
heads (Fig. 7), which is a Vaishnav symbol known as
ūrdhvapundra.
It remains unclear ‘how, why, or when the
Daśanāmīs acquired an overarching Shaiva
orientation’.36 As Mallinson states, it is likely to have
been the result of ‘a variety of historical processes,
including the formalization of the order, its affiliation
with the Shaiva Shringeri monastery, whose doctrinal
principles were adopted by the Daśanāmīs, and the
contemporaneous attribution of the founding of the
order to Shankaracharya, who, by the seventeenth cen-
tury, was said to have been a Shaiva.’37 Furthermore,
their identification with Śiva could also have been
fueled by their rivalry with the Vaishnav Rāmānandīs.
Like the Daśanāmīs, the Rāmānandīs are linked to
ancient yoga traditions. They are Vaishnavas and are
ardent worshippers of Ramā, the seventh avatar of
Vishnu. Although they are currently the largest ascetic
order in India, the sect did not formalize until the early
eighteenth century. 38 They were originally Samnyāsīs,
which is why it is difficult to specifically identify
Rāmānandīs within Mughal paintings.39 However, the
visual clues discussed above shed light on the forerun-
ners and formation of the Rāmānandīs; for example, the
ūrdhvapundra is used as a distinct marker of the order
today.
With regard to the Tantric practitioners, they repre-
sent the order now known as the Nāths.40 They trace
their lineage to a group of nine Nāth gurus lead by the
sahdu Ādinātha, who identified with the god Śiva. The
next most popular Nāth figure in the group of nine is
Matsyendranātha, who is followed by Gorakhnāth (also
known as Goraksanātha). It is believed that Gorakhnāth
is actually the one to have officially founded the Nāth
order. The earliest reference to the formalized sect dates
to the beginning of the seventeenth century, despite
Matsyendranātha and Goraksanātha living sometime
between the ninth and twelfth centuries.41 Although
they have roots in Shaiva Tantric traditions, during the
Mughal period, the Nāths were closely affiliated with
the Sant tradition of holy men, and, like them, believed
in a ‘formless, unconditioned Absolute’.42 This theolo-
gical openness allowed for the development of other
characteristics, such as their contempt for purity laws
that were adamantly adhered by orthodox Hindu asce-
tics. In addition, they were not a militarized group like
some divisions of the Samnyāsī tradition. Collectively,
these traits allowed for them to ‘mix more freely with
mlecchas (barbarians), such as the Muslim Mughals’.43
As a result, they greatly influenced the Mughals’ Sufi
beliefs, their illustrations of ascetics in paintings (they
are the most depicted of the holy men), and their
Persian works on yoga.44
The appearance and lifestyle of Nāths are very simi-
lar to those of the Daśanāmī Samnyāsīs and Rāmānandīs;
they wear loincloths, cover their bodies in ash, wear their
hair in jatā, and practice celibacy. However, they possess
 South Asian Studies 221
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4. Ascetics in a Landscape. From the Gulshan Album. India, Mughal Dynasty, firstquarter of the seventeenth century, opaque
watercolor and gold on paper. Staatsbibliothek zu Berline, Berlin: pict. A 117, ff.6b, 13a.
 222 Rachel Parikh
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5a. Basawan. Battle at Thaneshwar. Folio from Abu’l Fazl’s Akbarnama. India, Mughal Dynasty, 1590-1595, opaque watercolor, gold,
and ink on paper. Victoria and Albert Museum, London: IS. 2:61-1896.
 South Asian Studies 223
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5b. Asi. Battle at Thaneshwar. Fom Abu’l Fazl’s Akbarnama. India, Mughal Dynasty, 1590-1595, opaque watercolor, gold, and ink on
paper. Victoria and Albert Museum, London: IS.2:62-1896.
 224 Rachel Parikh
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6. Asi. Detail showing figure with Ramā emblazoned on his
chest. From the right folio of Battle of Thaneshwar. From Abu’l
Fazl’s Akbarnama. India, Mughal Dynasty, 1590-1595, opaque
watercolor, gold, and ink on paper. Victoria and Albert
Museum, London: IS.2:62-1896.
7. Asi. Detail showing figure with Vaishnava mark of
ūrdhvapundra on forehead. From the right folio of Battle of
Thaneshwar. From Abu’l Fazl’s Akbarnama. India, Mughal
Dynasty, 1590-1595, opaque watercolor, gold, and ink on
paper. Victoria and Albert Museum, London: IS.2:62-1896.
distinct features that make them easily identifiable, now
and in Mughal paintings. First, they wear around their
necks the sīngnād janeū, a long black woolen thread on
which a very small horn, a rudrāksa seed45, and a ring
are strung. The horn, which is meant to be a whistle, is
blown before eating and during certain rituals. Nāths also
wore a fillet, a fabric band worn around the head, and a
necklace from which colored strips of cloth are hung.
These accessories can be found in several Mughal paint-
ings, such as, A party of Kanphat Yogis resting around a
fire (Fig. 8). Although he conflates the two items, the
Jesuit traveler Monserrate wrote the following of his visit
to the famous Nāth shrine of Balnath Tillā in the Jhelum
district of Pakistani Punjab, ‘The mark of [the] leader’s
rank is a fillet; round this are loosely wrapped bands of
silk, which hang down and move to and fro. There are
three or four of these bands.’46 While neither of these
articles is worn by Nāths today, they do wear distinctive,
thick, hoop earrings. They are worn through the cartilage
of the ears, which is cut open with a dagger at the time of
a devotee’s initiation into the order.47 As a result of this
practice, Nāths are known as Kānphatā (‘split-eared’), a
somewhat derogatory name that the holy men them-
selves avoid. It was once believed by scholars that the
initiation practice originated with Gorakhnāth, but pic-
torial evidence discredits this theory. For example,
Mughal paintings depict Nāths wearing these earrings
through their lobes. It should be mentioned that, at this
time, other ascetics, such as the Daśanāmī Samnyāsīs,
were also illustrated sporting hooped earrings in the
same fashion. The transition to the split-eared style
(kānphata) seems to have occurred in the early nine-
teenth century – and quite abruptly. For instance, a paint-
ing depicting a Nāth yogi from the early part of Maharaja
Man Singh of Jodhpur’s reign (r. 1803-1843) shows him
wearing his earring through the lobe. However, by 1825,
there are depictions, like Aughar and Kanphata Yogi
(Fig. 9), that illustrate the kānphata style.48
Ascetics in Mughal Painting
The founder of the Mughal Dynasty, Babur
(r. 1526-1530), and his son and successor, Humayun
(r. 1530-1540, 1555-1556) did not make any attempt to
learn about Hinduism and only had ‘negligible encoun-
ters’ with Hindu ascetics.49 For example, Babur ‘more
out of curiosity than anything else’ visited the hermitage
in Gorkhatri, located in Peshawar, but never mentions
its devout inhabitants.50 After putting a corrupted offi-
cial to death, Humayun was requested an audience with
a hermit named Baba Bilas, who accepted the request
with great reluctance.51
This attitude towards Hinduism and its ardent devo-
tees changed with the reign of the third Mughal
Emperor, Akbar (r. 1556-1605). He made great attempts
to comprehend the highly complex and multifaceted
religion, both for spiritual and political reasons,
which, in most cases, were interchangeable. Like the
South Asian Muslims before him, Akbar was intrigued
by what yoga’s mysticism had to offer and its parallels
with Sufism. Akbar was a devoted follower of the Sufi
 South Asian Studies 225
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8. Mas’ud. A party of Kanphat Yogis resting around a fire, India Mughal Dynasty, 1630-1640, opaque watercolor, ink, and gold on
paper. 22.4 × 13 cm.; © British Library Board, London: Johnson Album 22,15.
 226 Rachel Parikh
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9. Aughar and Kanphata Yogi. From Tashrih al-aqvam. India, Hansi Cantonment, 1825, watercolor on paper. 31.5 × 22 cm.; ©
British Library Board, London: Add.27255, f. 399b.
mystic-saint Salim Chishtī, and heavily relied on his
guidance, especially regarding political affairs. For
instance, when he was concerned about producing an
heir, he looked to Salim Chishtī, who prophesized that
Akbar would have three sons. On August 30, 1569,
Akbar had his first son, Salim, who later succeeded
the throne under the name Jahangir. To honor the Sufi
mystic-saint, Akbar built the palace-city of Fatehpur
Sikri, located west of Agra. Chishtī’s tomb can be
found within the mosque complex, and is, to this day,
venerated as a holy Sufi site.
Because the Mughals believed that their rule was
legitimized through God’s sanction, religious power and
political power were synonymous. For Akbar and his
successors, it was more than appropriate to seek poli-
tical counsel from religious figures. Therefore, the more
spiritual insight the emperor gained, the more success-
ful his reign. This belief is demonstrated by the fact
that, in the 1570s, Akbar began a systematic study of
theology and comparative religion. He held religious
debates at Fatehpur Sikri, inviting members of several
denominations, including Hinduism, Buddhism,
Jainism, Christianity, and Islam. Through these debates,
Akbar realized that all religions had several good prac-
tices, and, in 1582, he decided to combine them all into
a new religious movement known as Din-i Illahi, or
‘The Religion of God’. From Hinduism, he adopted a
vegetarian diet; celebrated Diwali, the festival of lights;
and only drank water from the sacred Ganga River.
Akbar’s political interest in Hinduism manifested
from his belief that, in order to maintain a prosperous
and peaceful empire, he would have to appease and
unite the people that fell under his rule, which predo-
minantly consisted of Muslims and indigenous Hindus.
In the words of his court biographer, Abu’l Fazl,
‘Having observed the fanatical hatred prevailing
between Hindus and Muslims, and convinced that it
arose only from their mutual ignorance, the enlightened
monarch [Akbar] wished to dispel the same. . .’52 As a
result, Akbar commissioned Persian translations of
Sanskrit works and Hindu epics, such as the
Mahābhārata and the Ramayana in order to understand

the doctrines and dogmas of Hinduism. He also com-
missioned extra copies of these works so that his
Muslim courtiers and nobles could participate. In addi-
tion, Akbar had Abu’l Fazl document the traditions,
customs, cultures, languages, festivals, holidays, food,
and dress of the Hindus in the Emperor’s memoirs, the
Akbarnama. Using the information he gained from
Hindu texts and his own observances, Akbar addition-
ally adopted policies that won him the support of his
non-Muslim subjects. He decreed that Hindus who had
been forced to convert to Islam could reconvert to
Hinduism without facing the death penalty. He abol-
ished the sectarian tax on non-Muslims and appointed
them to high civil and military posts. In addition, he
forbade the slaughter of cows and selling of meat on
certain days, especially those considered auspicious to
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Hindus.
His spiritual and political endeavors were the moti-
vating forces behind Akbar meeting with, and seeking
guidance from, Hindu ascetics and yogis, as well as his
commissioning paintings of them. There are several
important works that he patronized for both historical
works and in his Persian translations of Sanskrit texts.
Of the former, the earliest works are from an illustrated
version of the Baburnama (‘Memoirs of Babur’) that
Akbar commissioned in the late sixteenth century. Both
paintings depict Babur with the yogis of Gorkhatri, as
he discusses the pilgrimage site twice in his memoirs.
Babur first heard of the hermitage in 1505, while he was
on an expedition through India. In the Emperor’s words,
‘[Gorkhatri] was said to be a holy place of the Yogis
and Hindus who came from long distances to shave
their heads and beards here.’53 Unfortunately, circum-
stances prevented him from seeing Gorkhatri until
1519. At this point, he stated, ‘Formerly, we were con-
sumed with regret about not seeing Gorkhatri, but it
does not seem to be a place to regret not seeing.’54 He
does not talk about the ascetics, and only barely
describes the sacred place: ‘This is a smallish abode,
rather confined and dark. After entering at the door and
going down a few steps, one must lie full length to get
beyond. There is no getting in without a lamp.’55
The first folio (Fig. 10) illustrates Babur’s first
attempt to reach Gorkhatri, showing the Emperor
approaching the hermitage and its inhabitants.
Although it is based on Babur’s limited textual descrip-
tion, the illustration is a much more dynamic and
detailed account. The image is pictorially divided by a
large rock formation which confines Babur and his
attendant to the bottom right corner, while the hermi-
tage dominates the page. The formation brilliantly sym-
bolizes the Emperor’s inability to reach Gorkhatri on his
first visit. The sacred space shows two shrines and a
group of ascetics going about daily activities, such as
preparing food, meditating, and, as Babur himself
South Asian Studies 227
described, one having his head shaved. Some of them
wear ochre or dark colored robes, while others wear
loincloths. However, all of them wear earrings and their
bodies are smeared with ash. The second image
(Fig. 11) is of Babur’s second journey to Gorkhatri in
1519. In the bottom register is the Emperor being
greeted by two ascetics, an older one with a shaven
head, and the other with a flowing beard and matted
hair tied up. A large banyan tree commands the top
register. To the right of the tree are two figures conver-
sing. Several sadhus are shown with their legs tied up in
a yogic posture. Like in the first illustration, these holy
men also have their bodies covered in ash and wear
earrings.
There are two significant qualities about these
images. First, their ‘relationship between text and
image is a tenuous one’.56 As previously mentioned,
Babur does not mention the inhabitants of Gorkhatri
during both his 1505 and 1519 visits. However, both
miniatures represent ascetics conducting various activ-
ities and rituals; and figures that are highly detailed with
regard to their appearance, showing differences in age,
dress, and physical features. This elaboration of the
original narrative is most likely due to Akbar’s – the
patron of the manuscript – own first hand experiences
and observations of the pilgrimage site. In fact, Akbar
made two visits to Gorkhatri in 1581, which are con-
temporaneous to the images.57 Second, although Babur
and Akbar do not identify the figures, the artist’s great
attention to detail allows the viewer to do so. These
yogis and ascetics are part of the Nāth order, as they are
shown wearing the sīngnād janeū, fillets, and the neck-
lace with colored strips of cloth. This is compounded by
the fact that, until the partition of India in 1947,
Gorkhatri was an important center for the Nāth order.58
Akbar continued depictions of ascetics in his own
memoirs; the most profound being a double-page illus-
tration, Battle of Thaneshwar, highlighting a fight that
Akbar bore witness to in 1567 (Fig. 5a, b). It took place
at the bathing tanks of the pilgrimage site of
Thaneshwar near Delhi. The conflict was between two
rival yogi suborders, which were described by Abu’l
Fazl as being the Purīs and the Giris. These names, to
this day, remain two of the ‘ten names’ of the Daśanāmīs
Samnyāsīs, and thus the figures can be identified to this
particular sect.59 However, as aforementioned, many
figures in these images bear Vaishnav markings, and
while considered Daśanāmīs Samnyāsīs at the time,
they are the forerunners to today’s Rāmānandīs.
The combat, sanctioned by Akbar, was instigated by
a dispute over the right to collect alms during a festival.
As the fight ensued, it became clear to Akbar that the
Purīs were greatly outnumbered. As a result, the
Emperor ordered some of his men to assist them,
which in turn allowed for the Purīs to drive out their
 228 Rachel Parikh
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10. Babur’s first visit to Gorkhatri, 1505. From the Baburnama. India, Mughal Dynasty, ca. 1580, opaque watercolor and gold on
paper. © British Library, London: Or. 3714, f. 197a.
 South Asian Studies 229
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11. Babur visiting the ascetics of Gorkhatri. From the Baburnama. India, Mughal Dynasty, ca. 1580, opaque watercolor and gold on
paper. © British Library, London: Or. 3714, f. 320a.
 230 Rachel Parikh
opponents and kill their leader, Anand Giri. Akbar’s role
and participation in the physical confrontation is a sur-
prising one; the Emperor was, and still is, known and
portrayed as being sympathetic and understanding
towards Hinduism and its worshippers. Akbar’s flippant
actions toward the dispute must have also stunned Abu’l
Fazl, who still did his best to justify them in the
Akbarnama. Abu’l Fazl states that the ‘reason Akbar
granted permission for the contest was so that these
covetous souls could be “taught a lesson”’.60 However,
the Emperor was clearly displeased with how the battle
was proceeding since he had his own men take part in
it. It seems that Akbar wanted to make the altercation
more sportive. Perhaps his attitude arose from utter
bewilderment – how could such spiritual men be
involved in such violence and bloodshed? The two-
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page illustration seems to capture Akbar’s sentiments.
Collectively, they show a chaotic, swirling composition
of sadhus and yogis armed with bows and arrows,
spears, axes, clubs, daggers, and sharp iron discs (chak-
ram). They are fighting over the diamond-shaped tank
in Figure 5a, where, at the edge by a banyan tree, lay
pilgrims offer gifts with outstretched arms. Some devo-
tees are bathing in the sacred water, but most are shown
on the bank and spilling into a ‘battlefield’ in Figure 5b.
On the top of a hill is Akbar on horseback who watches
the perplexing event unfold before him. At the bottom
register, there is a figure that immediately catches one’s
attention. His body laid out in a manner that is remi-
niscent of Christ in Michelangelo’s Pietà, which is in
sharp contrast with the frenetic movements of the bat-
tling ascetics. The artist has captured the culminating
moment of the conflict – the death of Anand Giri,
which, according to the miniature, was by the hand of
one of Akbar’s men.
More in keeping with Akbar’s stance on Hinduism are
his Persian translations of Sanskrit texts, which include
important volumes on yoga, such as the Yog-Vashisht. It
was originally penned in Sanskrit as the Yoga Vasishta in
the ninth century and is traditionally attributed to Valmiki,
the author of the Ramayana. Thus, Yoga Vasishta is
reputed to be an appendix of the Hindu epic. The volume
takes the form of a dialogue between Ramā and the sage
Vasishta, who explains that one can attain the Absolute
without, contrary to popular belief, relinquishing physical
attachment to worldly affairs. However, through Vasishta’s
fifty-eight tales, Ramā realizes that it is not the material
world, but the spiritual world that matters.
Jahangir continued the patronage of yogi-ascetic
paintings, which began while he was Crown Prince
Salim. Growing restless for the throne, in 1599 Salim
revolted against his father (who was on military cam-
paign in the Deccan), declared himself as ‘King Salim’,
and set up his own imperial residency at Allahabad,
near Agra. Allahabad was previously known as
Prayag, one of the most sacred places in India for
Hindus because it is the point at which the holy rivers
of Yamuna and Ganga come into confluence. Prayag has
always been a place of congregation for yogis and
ascetics, even more so when it was hosting the great
Kumbh Mela gathering.61 As a result, Salim was pro-
foundly exposed to ascetic culture, life, and yogic prac-
tices. Personal interaction, along with a group of artists
that he lured with him to Allahabad, including
Govardhan62, preeminent among them, allowed for
Salim to patronize images of Hindu holy men with
high detail and great accuracy.
His earliest commission was in fact his own copy of
the Yog-Vashisht, created between 1602 and 1603.
While Akbar’s copy was true to the original Sanskrit
text, Salim’s offered a different translation, as stated by
the Prince himself in a hand-written note on the right
margin of the first page63, which he believed made the
text more comprehensible to a Muslim and Persian-
speaking audience. One of the forty-one images depicts
the tale of the sage Mandavya explaining to King
Suraghu that ‘only the Self is important, for it is eternal
while all else is ephemeral’ (Fig. 12).64 King Suraghu is
shown kneeling before Mandavya outside his thatched
hut. The men are engaged in an animated discussion, as
the ascetic is shown leaning towards the king with an
intense, penetrating facial expression. The setting and
details suggest that the artist modeled his depiction
from real life. Interestingly, there are some parallels in
physical features between Akbar and the depicted king.
This notion is supported by the fact that there are
similar depictions of Akbar himself in audience with
an ascetic (Fig. 2), which perhaps the artist or Prince
Salim himself were aware of.
One of the Crown Prince’s most well known com-
missions is The Bahr al-Hayat (The Ocean of Life) a
Persian translation of the Sanskrit Amritakunda (The
Pool of Nectar), written by prominent Sufi spiritual
master Muhammad Ghwath Gwaliori in 1550. It dis-
cusses yoga as a rigorous spiritual and physical disci-
pline, focusing on the practices and the rationale behind
them. The book first investigates the microcosm-macro-
cosm relationship between the human body and the
universe respectively. The following chapters then
detail the mental and physical exercises of yoga. This
is where the eighty-four asanas (physical postures) are
discussed, with twenty-one of them being accompanied
by illustrations. The images are all united in style and
composition. Generally, the yogis are placed in the
center of the image so that their actions are clearly
visible, which in turn heightens their instructional
aspect (Fig. 3). Because Salim’s artists had direct con-
tact with yogis, they were able to illustrate them with
careful attention and precision. In addition, they were
able to add a portrait-like quality to the miniatures; each
 South Asian Studies 231
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12. King Suraghu Visits Mandavya. From a Yog-Vahisht. India, Mughal Dynasty, ca. 1602, opaque watercolor and gold on paper.
© The Trustees of the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin, In 05, f. 178b.
 232 Rachel Parikh
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13. Mughals visit an encampment of “sadhus”. From the St. Petersburg Album. India, Mughal Dynasty, opaque watercolor and gold
on paper. 46 × 29.5 cm.; St. Petersburg Institute of Oriental Manuscripts, St. Petersburg: f. 47r.
yogi is executed as an individual, with distinct charac-
teristics and physical features, rather than as a type.
There were a significant number of paintings that
were executed at the end of Jahangir’s reign and the
beginning of his son’s, Shah Jahan (r. 1627-1658), two
of which will be discussed here. The first was painted
around 1630, entitled, A party of Kanphat yogis resting
around a fire (Fig. 8). The illustration, in many ways,
echoes that of Babur’s visits to Gorkhatri. For example,
the image also depicts ascetics going about their daily
life, including one that has his legs bound together in a
yogic posture. Furthermore, the illustrated ascetics
belong to the Nāth ascetic order, as they are shown
wearing the sīngnād janeū, fillets, and the necklace
with colored strips of cloth. However, the seventeenth
century image also reveals other Nāth attributes that
they do not share with the Daśanāmī Samnyāsīs during
the Mughal period. These characteristics include wear-
ing cloaks and hats; the accompaniment of dogs65, one
of which is depicted curled up in the bottom register;
and the use of small shovels to move piles of ash, one of
which is located right by the fire.
The final image, Mughals visit an encampment of
“sadhus”, housed at the Institute of Oriental
Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences in
St. Petersburg, was created around 1635.66 Situated in
the center to the left is the head sadhu, with a long beard
and long matted hair, sits cross-legged on antelope skin
under a decorated tent. He seems to be in conversation
with a kneeling Mughal attendant. His affiliation is
easily identifiable; on his forehead is the distinctive
Vaishnav marking, the ūrdhvapundra. Surrounding him
are devotees engaged in different activities, such as
music, tending to camels and elephants, preparing and
cooking food, and yogic exercises. Since the leading
ascetic is Vaishnava, it has been assumed that the rest
of the figures are as well, and thus represent the fore-
runners of the Rāmānandīs. Furthermore, these figures
are not recognized as Daśanāmī Samnyāsīs in contem-
porary sources.67 However, there are three features of
the holy men in this image that contest the identity of
the figures as Rāmānandī. First, an ascetic in the bottom
left register holds both his arms up in the air, which
represents an ancient form of penance called
ūrdhvabāhu. Predecessors of the Rāmānandīs did not
practice this act, as they believed it would permanently
disfigure the body and thus render them incapable of
carrying out Vedic ritual acts.68 Today’s Rāmānandīs

continue not to participate in ūrdhvabāhu, and prefer
other acts of penance such as khareśvarī, or standing up
for years on end. Second, two figures, including the one
who has undertaken ūrdhvabāhu, are naked. Vaishnava
ascetics of the Mughal era and today find nakedness
offensive to Lord Ramā.69 Finally, the third feature is
that the remaining ascetics wear an ochre-colored cloth,
unlike the Vaishnavas (and now the Rāmānandīs) who
wear white cloth, as they believed ochre was the color
of the menstrual fluid of Śiva’s consort, Pārvatī.70
Perhaps some of the ascetics depicted in this painting
are in fact followers of the Nāth order; some of the
figures in the lower left foreground, with ash-covered
bodies and tied-up matted hair, resemble those depicted
in Babur’s first visit to Gorkhatri, 1505 (Fig. 10) and
Babur visiting the ascetics of Gorkhatri (Fig. 11). In
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fact, the figures in all three images are taking part in
daily activities at their respective encampments. In
addition, there are two large piles of ash which are
reminiscent of that in A party of Kanphat Yogis resting
around a fire (Fig. 8). In addition, the figure wearing red
and playing an instrument next to a gazelle is reminis-
cent of the Nāth figure in the Gulshan Album image
(Fig. 4), who is draped in the same shade of red cloth
and carries a similar instrument. Rather than portraying
a specific scene, perhaps this painting is a composite of
various yogi and ascetic practices on the subcontinent,
visually documented to act as a single guide into the
enigmatic world of Hindu holy men.
***
Yoga has captured the attention, minds, and even the
imaginations of both Hindus and Muslims for centuries.
Early South Asian Muslims were immediately lured by
the practice’s promises of supernatural powers and
immortality. Their quest of understanding yoga and
achieving its mystifying goals allowed for Muslims
within and beyond India to be exposed to both yogic
exercises and especially to the ascetics who renounced
conventional society to dedicate themselves to master-
ing the practice. The Muslim fascination with yoga
reached its zenith under the Mughals. Not only did
they continue the interest in yoga, but they were also
witness to significant developments within the disci-
pline, particularly its evolution from the ancient and
Tantric traditions into the ascetic orders of the
Daśanāmī Samnyāsīs, the Nāths, and eventually the
Rāmānandīs. Akbar, Jahangir, and Shah Jahan commis-
sioned systematic studies, verbal and especially visual,
to document the essence of the culture, lifestyle, and
practices, including yoga, of India’s holiest men. Like
the Mughals, scholars today can gain insight into an
enigmatic and esoteric religious world through images
that have been executed with care, attentiveness, and
sensitivity. A close examination of these illustrations in
conjunction with contemporary textual sources, allow
South Asian Studies 233
for scholars to gain some insight into the history and
nature of yoga, from two traditions to the formation of
India’s three largest ascetic orders, context that is over-
shadowed by its current and mainstream popularity.
But, most importantly, these paintings bear witness to
the subcontinent’s ever changing societal, political, and
religious landscape and how these yogis struck a bal-
ance between preserving their faith and adjusting to
these changes around them.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I am indebted to Professor Jean Michel Massing; Professor
James Mallinson; British Library, London; Harvard Art
Museums/Art M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge (USA);
National Museum, New Delhi; Staatsbibliothek zu Berline,
Berlin; St. Petersburg Institute of Oriental Manuscripts, St.
Petersburg; The Chester Beatty Library, Dublin; and Victoria
and Albert Museum, London. I want to also take this oppor-
tunity to thank Imma Ramos, whose support, patience, and
hard work made this publication project possible.
DISCLOSURE STATEMENT
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
NOTES
1. In Vedic Sanskrit, the literal meaning of the word
yoga is ‘to unite’ or ‘to attach’. It is also refers to
the ‘yoking together’ of horses or oxen, but with
regard to the yoga discipline, it is interpreted as
the ‘yoking’ of mind and body. See: David Gordon
White, Yoga in Practice (Princeton: Princeton
University Press, 2011).
2.. John Marshall was the first to establish the iden-
tity of this figure as a proto-Śiva when he exca-
vated the seal in 1930. See: John Marshall,
Mohenjo-Daro and the Indus Civilization: Being
an Official Account of Archaeological Excavations
at Mohenjo-Daro Carried out by the Government
of India between the years 1922-1927 (London,
Probsthain Books, 1931), pp. 52-56. There has
been much debating surrounding Marshall’s iden-
tity of the figure as a proto-Śiva. For arguments
for and against Marshall, see: Doris Srinivasan,
‘The So-Called Proto-Śiva Seal from Mohenjo-
Daro: An Iconological Assessment’, Archives of
Asian Art, 29 (1975), 47-49; Heinrich Zimmer,
Myths and Symbols in Indian Art and Civilization
(Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1946), p.
125; and Rachel Parikh, ‘Shiva Riding a
Composite Bull: Comprehending Indian
Composite Illustrations’, Orientations 44 (2013),
71-76. The padmāsana pose is a cross-legged
 234 Rachel Parikh
position in which the legs are bent at the knees
and folded so that the feet touch heel to heel and
the soles point downward, while the arms rest
outstretched on the knees with the thumbs point-
ing to the front. See: Srinivasan, p. 47.
3. William Dalrymple, ‘Under the Spell of Yoga’,
New York Review of Books, 61 (2014), 4 < http://
www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2014/mar/06/
under-spell-yoga/>
4. ibid, 5.
5. ibid.
6. See: ‘Yogic Identities: Tradition and
Transformation’ (2013c), 2< http://www.asia.si.
edu/research/articles/yogic-identities.asp#mughal-
painting>
7. Bruce B. Lawrence, ‘Biruni, Abu Rayhan, viii,
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Indology’, Encyclopaedia Iranica, 4 (1990), <
http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/biruni-abu-
rayhan-viii>.
8. Carl W. Ernst, ‘Muslim Interpreters of Yoga’, in
Yoga: The Art of Transformation, ed. by Debra
Diamond (Washington D.C.: Smithsonian Books,
2013), p. 59.
9. For visual account of this meeting, see:
Jahangir visiting the ascetic Jadrup, created
between 1616 and 1620, now at the Museé
Guimet in Paris.
10. Some methods of hatha yoga were practiced by
ascetics for over a thousand years before they
were found in texts, such as the Upanishads, a
collection of Vedic texts that contain the earliest
references to concepts that are central to
Hinduism. Hatha yoga also forms the foundation
of the yoga that is practiced around the world
today. See: James Mallinson (2013c), 2.
11. Ernst (2013, 61. See also: Carl W.Ernst,
‘Situating Sufism and Yoga’, Journal of the
Royal Asiatic Society, 15 (2005), 15-43. Some
scholars believe that Sufism was developed
through different religions, including Hinduism
and the practices of yoga. However, it is gener-
ally acknowledged that Sufism is purely Islamic
and originated in Baghdad and Khorasan. See:
Ahmet T. Karamustafa, Sufism: The Formative
Period (Berkeley: University of California
Press, 2007).
12. Ernst (2005),15.
13. There has been some speculation surrounding
Mu’in al-Din Chistī’s association with the text. It
is widely believed that he is the author of the
manuscript. However, nothing survives from
Chistī’s time; extant copies all date to around the
seventeenth century. In addition, Chisti’s succes-
sors claimed that he never penned any works. See:
Ernst (2013), 62.
14. See: Carl W. Ernst, ‘A Fourteenth-Century
Persian Account of Breath-Control and
Meditation’, in Yoga in Practice, ed. by David
Gordon White (Princeton: Princeton University
Press, 2011).
15. For more on yoginis, particularly in Persian and
Arabic texts, see: Carl W. Ernst, ‘Being Careful
with the Goddess: Yoginis in Persian and Arabic
Texts’, in Performing Ecstasy: The Poetics and
Politics of Religion in India, ed. by Pallabi
Chakrabarty and Scott Kugle (Delhi: Manohar,
2009).
16. For more information on Kamakhya and Tantric
worship, see: B. Shastri, Kamakhya Tantra (Delhi,
1990).
17. See: Yogini by a stream, 1605-1640, opaque water-
color and gold on paper, Victoria and Albert
Museum, London (IS.133:56/A-1964).
18. The original Sanskrit work is now lost.
19. Carl W.Ernst, ‘The Islamization of Yoga in the
Amrtakunda Translations’, Journal of the Royal
Asiatic Society, 13 (2003), 208. See also: Algis
Uzdavinys, Ascent to Heaven in Islamic and
Jewish Mysticism (London: The Matheson Trust,
2011), p. 12.
20. Gorakhnāth is replaced with the Islamic prophet
Khidr. See: Ernst (2003), 208.
21. See: Carl W.Ernst, ‘Sufism and Yoga according to
Muhammad Ghawth’, Sufi, 29 (1996), 9-13. and
Nazir Ahmad, ‘The Earliest Known Persian Work
on Hindu Philosophy and Hindu Religion’, in
Islamic Heritage in South Asian Subcontinent, ed.
by Nazir Ahmad and I.H. Siddiqui (Jaipur:
Publication Scheme, 1998).
22. Ernst (2013), p. 66.
23. The oldest of these illustrated copies can be found
in the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin. Three
other copies are known: one in the Louis Round
Wilson Library Special Collections at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill,
dated 1718; one in the Salar Jung Museum in
Hyderabad, attributed to Madhabib Farsi and
dated 1815; and one that was supposedly in the
collection of the late Simon Digby.
24. Ernst (2013), 66.
25. James Mallinson, ‘Yogis in Mughal India’, in
Yoga: The Art of Transformation, ed. by Debra
Diamond (Washington D.C.: Smithsonian Books,
2013b), p. 69.
26. Fundamental Tantric texts were also written
between the fifth and tenth centuries.
27. For more on the development of this order
through hatha yoga, see: James Mallinson,
Śāktism and Hathayoga. The Śākta Traditions
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013a).

28. Chakras is Sanskrit for ‘wheels’. They are not
linked to the physical body, but the ‘subtle’ or
psycho-spiritual body, and are considered as vital
energy nodes. It is understood that there are seven
main chakras: Shahasrara (state of pure con-
sciousness), Ajna (third-eye), Vishuddha (commu-
nication and growth through expression), Anahata
(compassion, tenderness, love, rejection, well-
being), Manipura (issues of personal power, fear,
anxiety), Svadhishthana (relationships, violences,
addictions, pleasures), and Muladhara (instinct,
security, and survival).
29. Tantric yogis believe there are eight siddhis, or
‘occult powers’, one must gain to achieve enlight-
enment, which include: the ability to increase
one’s size (mahimā), the ability to reduce one’s
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size (animā), the ability to travel anywhere and
acquire anything (prāpti), and the ability to
become god-like with the power to create and
destroy (isitva).
30. Brahmamitra Avasthī and A. Sharma
Dattāreyayogaśāstra (Dehli: Swami Keśvānanda
Yoga Institute, 1982), pp. 41a-42b. See also:
Mallinson (2013c), 2.
31. ibid. According to Mallinson, the earliest refer-
ences to wearing earrings by ascetics are in con-
text of Tantric siddhas, those who have achieved
enlightenment. There are no images prior to
Mughal paintings that show yogis sitting around
a fire. This is an innovation of Mughal-era paint-
ing. Although orthodox Brahman ascetics
renounced all conventions of society, including
fire, many heterodox practitioners used fires to
cook and keep warm. The consumption of canna-
bis arrived in India with Islam. Its use first
appears in Ayurvedic texts in the eleventh cen-
tury. See: C.J. Meulenbeld, ‘The Search for Clues
to the Chronology of Sanskrit Medical Texts as
Illustrated by the History of Bhanga’, Studien zur
indologie und Iranistik, 15 (1989), 59-70. Prior to
the arrival of tobacco in India at the beginning of
the seventeenth century, cannabis was either eaten
or drunk, but not smoked.
32. Mallinson (2013c), 4.
33. Followers of Śiva are known as Shaivas or
Shaivites. Shaivism reveres Śiva as the ‘Supreme
Being’ in Hinduism.
34. Followers of Viṣṇu are known as Vaishnavas or
Vaishnavites. Vaishnavism reveres Viṣṇu as the
‘Supreme Being’ in Hinduism.
35. ibid.
36. Mallinson (2013b), 78.
37. ibid.
38. It should be mentioned that ascetics that worship
Ramā have been around since the twelfth century,
South Asian Studies 235
as that is the date of the Agastyasamhitā, the ear-
liest text to teach devotion to Ramā. See:
Mallinson (2013b), 78; and Hans Bakker, ‘An
Old Text of the Rāma Devotion: The
Agastyasamhitā’, in Navonmesa (Varanasi: M.M.
Gopinath Kaviraj Centenary Committee, 1987),
pp. 300-306.
39. Mallinson (2013b), 78.
40. For more on the Nāths, see: James Mallinson,
‘Nāth Sampradāya’ in Brill’s Encyclopedia of
Hinduism, vol. 3, edited by Knut A. Jacobsen,
Helen Basu, Angelika Malinar, and Vasudha
Narayan (Leiden: Brill, 2011).
41. Mallinson (2011), 1.
42. Mallinson (2013b), 70. This accounts for why
one does not see any Shaiva insignia in Mughal
paintings of ascetics. According to Mallinson,
the earliest image of ascetics with affiliations
to Śiva occurs in Rajput miniatures of the late
seventeenth century. See: Mallinson (2013b), 83,
footnote 40. For examples, see: Ellen Smart,
Robert Skelton, and Toby Falk, Indian Painting
(Mughal and Rajput and a Sultanate Manuscript)
(London: P&D Colnaghi & Co., Ltd., 1978), pp.
50-51. These images show ascetics with the
three horizontal marks of Śiva (tripundra).
Today, Nāths are avowedly Shaiva. For more
on the Sants, see: Karine Schomer and W.H.
McLeod, The Sants: Studies in a Devotional
Tradition of India (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass,
1987).
43. Mallinson (2013b), 70.
44. See: Ernst, 2003.
45. The seed is produced by several species of large
evergreen broad-leaved trees.
46. J.S. Hoyland, The Commentary of Father
Monserrate, S.J., On His Journet to the Court of
Akbar (London: Oxford University Press, 1992),
p. 114. See also Mallinson (2013b), 73.
47. Mallinson (2013b), 73.
48. With regard to the image, the figure on the left has
been identified as Aughar, a yogi who has yet to
take the full Nāth initiation. The figure on the
right has been identified as Shambu Nāth, a full
initiate.
49. Walter Smith, ‘Hindu Ascetics in Mughal
Painting’, Oriental Art, 27 (1981), 67-75.
50. ibid. See also: Babur, The Baburnama, tr. by
Annette Beveridge (London: Luzac and Co.,
1971) p. 230, 394.
51. ibid. See also: Abu’l Fazl, The Akbarnama, tr. by
H. Beveridge (Delhi: Ess Ess Publications, 1977),
p. 597n.
52. Fazl, 109.
53. Babur, 230, 394.
 236 Rachel Parikh
54. ibid.
55. ibid, 394.
56. Smith, 70.
57. Fazl, 514, 528.
58. Mallinson (2013c), 6. There is still a temple to
Gorakhnāth at the site today.
59. ibid, 5. See also: Fazl, 423.
60. Smith, 71.
61. According to Dalrymple, it seemed that Kumbh
Mela took place at Prayag every five years during
the seventeenth century, and not on the current
twelve-year cycle. See: Dalrymple, 2.
62. Govardhan was not only a prominent artist of
the Mughal court, but he also painted a large
group of miniatures that feature Hindu ascetics
and yogis. For examples, see: Jahangir visiting
Downloaded by [University of Lethbridge] at 22:47 19 November 2015
the ascetic Jadrup, 1616-1620, opaque water-
color and gold on paper, Museé Guimet,
Paris; and An ascetic in a landscape,
1620-1630, opaque watercolor and gold on
paper, British Library, London (Add.Or.3129,
fol. 11v). Govardhan also influenced later
artists, such as Inayat, a prominent artist in
his own right that worked under Akbar,
Jahangir, and Shah Jahan. For example, see:
Seven ascetics under a banyan tree, 1630-1631,
opaque watercolor, ink, and gold on paper,
British Museum, London (1941,0712,0.5).
Supposedly, it is after a Govardhan miniature
created in 1625.
63. Yog-Vashisht, 1602-1603, Chester Beatty Library,
Dublin: cat. no. 8i.
64. Elaine Wright, Muraqqa’: Imperial Mughal
Albums from the Chester Beatty Library
(Alexandria (VA): Art Services International,
2008), 226.
65. Dogs were popular companions of the Nāths
because of their affiliation with Bhairava, the
Tantric and fierce manifestation of Śiva. Dogs
are an intrinsic part of Bhairava’s iconography.
66. For image, see: James Mallinson, ‘Yogic
Identities: Tradition and Transformation’,
http://www.asia.si.edu/research/articles/yogic-
identities.asp (accessed 17 July, 2015).
67. Mallinson (2013c), 17.
68. ibid, 19.
69. ibid, 20.
70. ibid.