Mughal Miniature Paintings

The Mughal Empire was born under the reign of Emperor Babur in the early 16th century. He was a direct decedent of Timur and was affected by Persian culture, which significantly influenced his reign and those of the Mughal emperors that followed in the Indian subcontinent. Babur seized power of India from a previous Islamic dynasty known as the Lodis on his arrival from eastern Iran. Islamic rulers had a stronghold on the central areas of north India since the late 12th century. However, much of the northern subcontinent was under Hindu rule.
The Hindu kingdoms were heirs to India’s rich artistic history even though the minimal Islamic presence discouraged non-Muslim artistic traditions. Most of the Hindu states were ruled by Rajput’s and contained painters working under royal, priestly, or merchant patronage. Majority of the paintings were of the God Krishna. Real people were not found in pre-Mughal paintings. In these paintings bright and flat colors were without any shading while the figures were highly stylized.
Manuscript illustration from the Bhagavata Purana, 1525.
Manuscript illustration from the Bhagavata Purana, 1525.

Artists from different areas interacted with one another and sought employment without concern for the religious affiliation of the patron. A family or two local artists satisfied painting needs.
Once Emperor Babur took control, he established painting workshops. Babur hired artists from Iran as well as those from India that were now seeking employment in the new Mughal courts. Indian artists usually followed their fathers into imperial service to paint for their patron. The artists were supposed to develop a Mughal style of painting that would be utilized for generations. However, the complexity of coordinating the tasks was beyond the capacity of these traditional familial hierarchies. Therefore, the Mughal workshops were quick to develop a bureaucracy to ensure that the sheer number of artists enlisted could work cohesively and their talent could be harnessed in a fruitful and efficient manner. In order to ensure that this bureaucracy was successful; text selection, suitable choice of paper and other initial set up was done by supervisors. A calligrapher was summoned to write out the text from manuscripts known as the Nizami’s Khamsa, which were kept in the Mughal Kitabkhana. The supervisors would write notes for the artists to explain how they are expected to paint and when it is to be completed. These notes ranged from a few words to a relatively complete description. The Mughal artists would then decide how to illustrate these notes, most often resorting to ‘compositional formulas that they or their peers had developed for similar subjects in other manuscripts’ (Seyller painting workshops in Mughal India, #2). The task of producing these miniature paintings was given to a various team of painters. The senior artists were in charge of preparing designs and adding intimate details, while the less experienced artists finished up images by coloring. Artists were not recognized for their individual painting style. But there were ample stylistic differences that were evident from the large and diverse group of painters. Ascriptions naming an artist are found rarely on independent paintings that stood apart from the context of a manuscript. Even inspection notes written on the reverse of these paintings only mentioned the subject of the painting but never the name of the artist. Hence, artists may have been recognized amongst each other, but their skills may not have been picked out in the final product because imagery and finesse mattered more than the painters’ individual skill. Emperor Babur had an elaborate taste for art, which he inherited rom his Timurid predecessors. He had to abandon his entire baggage sometimes to include whole libraries of illustrated books having paintings. He needed a stable residence to keep his expensive illustrated paintings, which he was able to accommodate when he became the ruler of Samarkand. His artistic style was very rich, imaginative and featured a lot of naturalism. Chinese drawings, paintings and textiles motivated his interest in naturalism. This created a revolution in the attitude of Muslim painters in terms of the miniatures it inspired them to create. Babur’s inclination towards natural painting can be imagined from a few of his lines uttered when he was approaching a sheet of water near Kabul. He said, “we saw a wonderful thing something as red as the rose of the dawn kept showing and vanishing between the sky and the water…When we got quite close we learned that the cause was flocks of geese, geese innumerable which, when the mass of birds flapped their wings in flight, sometimes showed red feathers, sometimes not”(http://www.indianetzone.com/26/development_mughal_painting.htm). Miniature paintings portrayed Mughal Emperors’ as hunters, conquerors, and displayed their regal prowess. Examples of this are displayed in the Baburnama, which depicts political events (including ceremonial occasions such as durbars where Babur met his court and ministers or gifting of favors like khilat), scenes of pleasure (such as hunting), military campaigns, or even portraits of the emperor himself.

The first Mughal Emperor Babur
The first Mughal Emperor Babur
Babur crossing the river Son, extracted from the Baburnama
Babur crossing the river Son, extracted from the Baburnama

Mughal paintings are a blend of Indian, Persian, and Islamic styles of art. Although the Mughal rulers were Muslims, the Mughal school art cannot be labeled as either Islamic or Hindu. It was an ‘amalgamation of the two – Indo Islamic’ (http://www.indiart.com/page2). It deviated from the Islamic school of art in a drastic way, that is, it ignored or rather defied the ban imposed by Islam on the portrayal and representation of the human figure or for that matter any living thing.
A typical painting was done on paper, silk, marble or synthetic ivory. Many are done on old manuscript paper with various hand written scripts on the back and front. Some are on stamped paper with an official seal of government.
Initially, miniatures were painted on cloth in the Persian safavi style. ‘Brilliant red, blue and green colors were predominant, with planes and blossoming trees reminiscent of Persia’ (http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/396178/Mughal-painting). Indian tones began to appear in later works when Indian artists were employed. Mughal miniatures were very detailed and fine in quality. As the Mughal invasion occurred, they adopt a more realistic style for animals and plants rather than the traditional Persian style.
The miniature paintings are small, colorful pictures painted in glowing mineral, vegetable and gold leaf colors on paper were realistic, naturalistic and detail oriented. There purpose was not to convey any religious, political or social messages. They were simply done to please the Mughal rulers of the time. Emperor Humayun, son of Babur further developed miniature paintings in India. He was initially exposed to miniature paintings while in exile in Tabriz, Persia. Humayun took the reins of the empire after his father succumbed to disease at the young age of forty-seven. Humayun lost control of his kingdom early on in his reign. When he was dethroned in 1540, he asked for troops, funds, and support for a return invasion on Delhi from the Safavid Shah Tahmasp court in Persia. Humayun not only took advantage of Tahmasp’s wealth, but also his lack of interest in artists. Humayun offered employment to several of these artists, with two in particular, Mir Sayyid Ali and Abd al-Sammad, came to the Mughal court, which was then in Kabul. They moved to India when Humayun returned to Delhi to 1555 and remained in Mughal workshops after his death even. They maintained the rich tradition of Safavid Iranian court paintings, which has long been considered the starting point of the Mughal style of painting. During Humayun's reign, painting workshops were expanded to consist from 50 to 130 Indian and Persian painters. His investment in accomplished painters Sayyid Ali and Abd al-Sammad was vital for the future of Mughal painting. It is said that Sayyid Ali painted a scene from a polo match on a gram of rice. The goal posts at each end and two horsemen in the center of the field, one galloping in from a corner and a fourth being handed a polo stick by an attendant are all accurately portrayed. Abd al-Sammad’s calligraphic skills were displayed in Surat al-Ikhlas in the last chapter of the Quran. He wrote on one side of a grain of rice, with a commentary to it on the other. Some of the best work these painters did was mainly at their early young age. Mughal paintings developed and flourished during the reigns of Emperor Akbar, Shah Jahan, and Jahangir. During the reign of Humayun’s son, Emperor Akbar, the imperial court was not only used to manage and rule the vast Mughal Empire but was also a center for cultural brilliance. Akbar became a student of painting under Abd al-Sammad. He inherited and broadened his father’s atelier of court painters and put deep emphasis on the output of their paintings. Emperor Akbar was known for his energetic, domineering, and creative political figure. He held great value for the technical and aesthetic quality of the artistic production. Akbar was described as the ‘creative mind’ behind his painters. He inspired them to form paintings to match his vision exactly. The greatest manuscript commissioned by Akbar was the Dastan-i-Amir Hamza or Hamza-nama, which was characterized as “a vision of the world through the eyes of a lion. And the lion, of course, was Akbar”. Akbar’s artistic style focused on the general finish, fine color mixing, bold execution, rhythm in lines, well-packed composition with minutest of details, beautiful rounded faces, depiction of motion and a highly populated canvas. He maintained a more friendly approach with painters as opposed to that of bureaucracy by Emperor Humayun. He preferred to add his own input into the painting so that the end result matched his expectations and would even hold paintings in his private household, which represented the value Akbar held for the paintings. Despite maintaining the Persian perspective of painting, the Indian artists of Akbar’s court exhibited an increasing naturalism and detailed observation of the world around them. Akbar’s fondness for history resulted in his commissioning of the Akbarnama. It is a court chronicle about the Emperor's reign composed by Akbar's biographer, Abu'l Faz’l. The author described the greatness of Abd al-Sammad, “though he had learnt the art before he was made a grandee of the court, his perfection was mainly due to the wonderful effect of a look of His Majesty Akbar, which caused him to turn from that which is form to that which is spirit”. He then discussed the artist Daswanth, who was the greatest painter according to Akbar. “One day the eye of His Majesty fell on him; his talent was discovered…in a short time he surpassed all painters, and became the first master of the age”.

Abd’l Faz’l presenting Emperor Akbar with the Akbarnama
Abd’l Faz’l presenting Emperor Akbar with the Akbarnama

A scene from the Akbarnama of Emperor Akbar Hunting
A scene from the Akbarnama of Emperor Akbar Hunting

The Akbarnama is significant to our study of Mughal miniature painting (especially those composed and commissioned under Akbar) as several of the pages of the manuscript are actually paintings ("illuminated manuscripts") that depict scenes from the life of the Emperor and the political, ceremonial, religious and familial life of the court. These paintings are classic examples of miniature painting during the time of Akbar and reflect the various cultural and aesthetic influences that Akbar and his predecessors introduced into Indian painting. There was also a definite influence of the European School of Art on the Mughal Miniatures – a direct result of the commercial and cultural contacts, which started between India and the European states at that time. Emperor Akbar was a collector of European art. Thus, a fusion of prehistoric forms of Turkish, Persian, and European paintings influences Mughal artwork. However, the style of miniature painting touched the peak of excellence in the reign of Jahangir. Brushwork became finer and the colors lighter. Jahangir was also deeply influenced by European painting. During his reign he came into direct contact with the English Crown and was sent gifts of oil paintings, which included portraits of the King and Queen. He encouraged his royal atelier to take up the single point perspective favoured by European artists, unlike the flattened multi-layered style used in traditional miniatures. The Jahangirnama, a biographical account of Jahangir, illustrated paintings depicting events of his own life, individual portraits, and studies of birds, flowers and animals. During the era of Jahangir, smaller groups of artists worked on paintings as opposed to the large bureaucratic groups that served under Emperor Babur and his son Emperor Humayun. There was no trace of a supervisor’s directive, no deadlines were imposed either. Jahangir was very boastful about his taste for miniature paintings. He would critique the work of individual painters, encouraging a general shift away from collectively produced paintings. Emperor Jahangir focused more on art at the expense of even his political ambition. His stress shifted from quantitative production of Miniature paintings to qualitative production. He believed that the elegance of a painting enhanced if a single artist rather than a group of artists produced it. Thus factory line production of paintings started giving way to the concept and practice of a painting being the creation of one artist exclusively. Therefore, this was a period in the Mughal era where paintings were identified with its artists and vice versa. On the other hand, Emperor Shah Jahan continued the Mughal art with less emphasis since architecture was his first passion. Shah Jahan was very romantic at heart. He loved sophistication, grandeur, and emotions. Hence, the art of his time brims with gold and lavish embellishment. The nature of the painting and its background was soft, with delicate, alluring patterns that as if gems inlaid into a necklace. Some of the themes during Shah Jahan’s reign include musical parties, lovers (sometimes in intimate positions), and aesthetics gathered around a fire. Nevertheless, Shah Jahan’s passion for architecture was more elaborate. He devoted majority of his time into constructing majestic monuments such as the Taj Mahal, Jama Masjid, and the Red Fort. Shah Jahan built beautiful, delicate structures compared to the huge building constructed by his predecessors to show their power. The Taj Mahal was built between 1632 and 1653 by Emperor Shah Jahan as a tomb for his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal. Its design supported an Indo-Islamic aesthetic, as represented in Mughal miniature paintings. Gorgeous engravings on the monument were one of the most sophisticated forms of stone inlay from Italy known as Pietra Dura. The calmness of its surroundings classified it as paradise of the worlds since it sheer beauty portrayed elegance and peace. It was a perfectly symmetrical structure as shown by the reflection of the Taj on the fountain in front of it. The white marble structure of the Taj Mahal was an example of classic Mughal architecture. The Red Fort, built from red sandstone near Jama Masjid was regarded as the seat of power of India itself. The Prime Minister of India addresses the nation from the steps of this fort on Independence Day even to this age.

Red Fort, New Delhi
Red Fort, New Delhi
Taj Mahal, Agra
Taj Mahal, Agra

Jama Masjid
Jama Masjid

From Emperor Babur to Emperor Shah Jahan we see that the style of and the approach towards miniature paintings kept evolving. As the Mughal Empire was born, Emperor Babur formed a solid foundation for miniature paintings. His Persian origins were the catalyst for his deep interest in art. Then, his son Emperor Humayun continued in his father’s footsteps. He established painting workshops and built on his father’s bureaucratic painting system, which employed artists from India and Persia to paint in large groups in order to produce effective and efficient paintings. But it was during the era of Emperors Akbar, Jahangir, and Shah Jahan that Mughal paintings really prospered. Both Akbar and Jahangir were exposed to European styles of painting, which they incorporated into their own vision of Mughal paintings. Moreover, they were more open with the painters, expressing their opinion on what they wanted the end result to look like. Additionally, Jahangir went a step further to even encourage an artist to exclusively focus on a painting rather than having a group of artists working on painting, so to give the artists more credit for their skill and effort. Emperor Shah Jahan, as mentioned above, diverted his passion for art into constructing magnificent architectural structures. He utilized his and his ancestors’ taste for art into his designs, which resulted in some of the most glamorous structures to have ever been built in Asian subcontinent. Overall, Mughal paintings were an incredible phenomenon. Various European painters were intrigued and fascinated by it. Rembrandt, a Dutch painter and etcher even tried to imitate it, while several followers of his such as William Schellinks tired to endorse Mughal miniature painting techniques in to European fashion. Miniature paintings are still created today by a few artists in Jaipur, Rajasthan. Miniature painting skills have been passed down from generation to generation so today these skills combine modern and classic methods to create skillful copies of original miniatures. Brothers Rafi Uddin and Saif Uddin are renowned Mughal painters from India who have won many artistic honors for their modern representation of traditional Mughal scenes. Abdur Rahman Chugthai, the national artist of Pakistan - a name given to him after the partition of the Subcontinent in 1947, used Mughal painting styles in his artwork. His subject matte included heroes and heroines from Islamic history, Mughal kings and queens, and episodes from Punjabi, Persian, and Indo-Islamic legends and folktales. Many all over the world cherish the Miniature Painting legacy. Nothing has changed in this style of art practiced by present day Artists – except that it has become even more popular, as it attract attention from all over the world including, of course, the USA.

Bibliography
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“Abdur Rahman Chugthai.” Britannica Online Encyclopedia. Accessed. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1365955/Abdur-Rahman-Chughtai.

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[ 1 ]. Chakraverty, Anjan. Indian Miniature Painting. Netherlands: Roli & Janssen BV, 2005.
[ 2 ]. Ibid
[ 3 ]. Ibid
[ 4 ]. “India Before the Mughals.” Victoria and Albert Museum. Accessed. http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/i/india-before-the-mughals/.
[ 5 ]. Seyller, John. Painting Workshops in Mughal India. N.p.: publisher, n.d.
[ 6 ]. Ibid
[ 7 ]. Ibid
[ 8 ]. Seyller, John. Painting Workshops in Mughal India. N.p.: publisher, n.d.
[ 9 ]. “Development of Mughal Paintings.” India Netzone. Accessed. http://www.indianetzone.com/1/mughal_painting.htm.
[ 10 ]. Ibid
[ 11 ]. “Mughal and Persian Miniature Paintings - Techniques and History.” India Art. Accessed. http://www.indiart.com/page2.
[ 12 ]. Ibid
[ 13 ]. “Mughal Painting.” Britannica Online Encyclopedia. Accessed. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/396178/Mughal-painting.
[ 14 ]. Ibid
[ 15 ]. Chakraverty, Anjan. Indian Miniature Painting. Netherlands: Roli & Janssen BV, 2005.
[ 16 ]. Ibid
[ 17 ]. Ibid
[ 18 ]. Ibid
[ 19 ]. “Mughal and Persian Miniature Paintings - Techniques and History.” India Art. Accessed. http://www.indiart.com/page2.
[ 20 ]. Ibid
[ 21 ]. Ibid
[ 22 ]. Chakraverty, Anjan. Indian Miniature Painting. Netherlands: Roli & Janssen BV, 2005.
[ 23 ]. Ibid
[ 24 ]. Ibid
[ 25 ]. “Mughal Minature Painting.” India Picks. Accessed. http://indiapicks.com/Indianart/Main/MP_Mughal.htm
[ 26 ]. Chakraverty, Anjan. Indian Miniature Painting. Netherlands: Roli & Janssen BV, 2005.
[ 27 ]. Ibid
[ 28 ]. “Mughal and Persian Miniature Paintings - Techniques and History.” India Art. Accessed. http://www.indiart.com/page2.
[ 29 ]. “Mughal Painting.” Britannica Online Encyclopedia. Accessed. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/396178/Mughal-painting.
[ 30 ]. Ibid
[ 31 ]. Seyller, John. Painting Workshops in Mughal India. N.p.: publisher, n.d.
[ 32 ]. Ibid
[ 33 ]. “Mughal and Persian Miniature Paintings - Techniques and History.” India Art. Accessed. http://www.indiart.com/page2.
[ 34 ]. Ibid
[ 35 ]. “Mughal Minature Painting.” India Picks. Accessed. http://indiapicks.com/Indianart/Main/MP_Mughal.htm.
[ 36 ]. Ibid
[ 37 ]. Ibid
[ 38 ]. “Jama Masjid United Forum.” Jama Masjid United Forum. Accessed. http://www.jmuf.org/about_jamia.htm. [ 39 ]. “Mughal and Persian Miniature Paintings - Techniques and History.” India Art. Accessed. http://www.indiart.com/page2.
[ 40 ]. “Mughal Paintings” India Netzone. Accessed. http://www.indianetzone.com/1/mughal_painting.htm. [ 41 ]. “Abdur Rahman Chugthai.” Britannica Online Encyclopedia. Accessed. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1365955/Abdur-Rahman-Chughtai.