Genesis of art in Mughals

A. T. M. Nurun Nabi :
The Mughal emperors contributed a lot in enriching the art of painting of India vis-a-vis the world. The painting is considered as a medium to express the ideas and thoughts of the painters through brush and colour. But the painters during the days of the Mughals did not enjoy that freedom but to uphold the achievements of the emperors.
However, it is not the Mughal painters first among the Muslims to work for art of painting. It is evident from history that the painting began in the days of the Umayyad Principality influenced by the Byzantine, the Sasania, the Greek and the Chinese. Thomas Waqar Arnold in his book ‘Art in Islam’ published in 1928 recognized the contribution of the Muslims in enriching the world of paintings.
With the establishment of the Ilkhani Dynasty early 13th century on the ashes of the Abbaside Rule, the thrust began. Gazan Khan’s minister Rashid Uddin built an Art Gallery at the newly constructed downtown named Rab-e-Rashidi near the capital ‘Tabridge’. In the Khamsa miniature of Khawja Kirmani patronized by Sultan Ahmed, the Ilkhani emperor, was observed the Persian style of paintings. The Taiymuri influence is evident in the Nakkays humai and miniature.
The Taiymuri art of painting was the sign of renaissance to the Persian painting. F. R. Martin said: A stature of Taiymur was more skilful than that of any European emperor. To me, the oriental painting is better than the western one beyond doubt. And it is the Persian art that infiltrated into the Mughal art to evolve a new style of painting. One of the celebrated Persian miniatures presented emperor Khashru and her one time beloved Shirin. The five characteristics of the miniature are: –
1. Khashru watches Shirin taking bath
2. Khshru hunting deer
3. Shirin in front of sculptor Farhad
4. Shirin watches Farhad working (with zeal)
5. (Despaired) Khashru standing in front of Shirin’s palace
6. The evolution of arts in India began with emperor Humayun succeeding his father emperor Babar in 1530. Humayun lived in Persia for many years. He developed an idea about the Persian art. And becoming the emperor, he invited two famous Persian artists Syed Ali and Abdus Samad to India. The two artists built the Mughal paintings on strong foundation. There were about one hundred artists in the court of emperor Akbar. The nature of their works was more a handicraft than fine arts. The famous works were Dastan-e-Ameer Hamzah, Anwar-e-Suhaili, Babamaman, Rajamnama, Chengiznama, Shahanama, Akbemama, Darbamama, Khamsa and Bahiristan. In the days of emperor Jahamgir, the National Mughal usage was formulated by which it became a free and independent of the Persian miniature. It is during his regime, the paintings reached its peak because of his profound love for painting and to uphold the Mughal tradition.
7. Brown said, “The artists translated emperor Jahangir’s wish, artistic mind and love for beauty into drawings. Abu Hasan Nadiruzzaman and Ustad Mansur Nadir wee two among the renowned artists decorating his court. Jahangir sent one of them to Persia to build the stature of emperor Shah Abbas. Ustad Mansur used to paint the pictures of birds, beasts, flowers and leaves.”
8. However, the painting found its downfall during the reign of emperor Shahjahan. He loved architecture more than painting. And the final touch to the demise came in the days of emperor Aurangazeb.
Babur’s languages were Turki, in which he wrote his memoirs, and Persian, the language of culture across Iran and Central Asia. His reign lasted only four years, but during that time he constructed new buildings and laid out gardens in the geometric Iranian style. None have survived.
At his death in 1530, his kingdom incorporated the major cities of Kabul, Lahore, Agra and Delhi, but his control remained fragile. Babur was succeeded by his son, Humayun, who lacked his father’s determination and military brilliance. Within ten years, the Afghan Sher Shah Suri, who took over Mughal territory and ruled from Delhi, forced Humayun out of Hindustan. His kingdom was short-lived, but he instituted an extremely effective administrative system that was his lasting legacy.
Their first major undertaking was the creation of the multiple, illustrated volumes of the Hamzanama, or ‘Book of Hamza’.
These popular tales of the Muslim hero Hamza and his band of followers fighting against unbelievers, witches and demons, and supernatural or magical forces, were traditionally performed, rather than written down and read. However, Akbar ordered one of the court’s most accomplished prose writers, another Iranian from the large city of Qazvin, to produce a written version that was then copied by calligraphers for this imperial volume. Slightly contradictory contemporary sources record that the tales filled 12 or 14 bound volumes, each with 100 paintings, and that the work took 15 years to complete. The exact years are not specified, but most authorities now agree that they fell between about 1562 and 1577.
Fewer than 200 of these paintings have survived, all of them separated from their bindings which have long disappeared. The largest group of 60 folios is now in the MAK (Museum für angewandte Kunst) in Vienna. The second largest group, comprising 28 complete folios and two fragments, is in the V&A.
Each of the large folios of the Hamzanama is made up of multiple layers. The text is written on paper, burnished and lightly flecked with gold and backed with cotton; the painting is done on cotton which is backed with paper. The layers were then glued together, and originally had borders, of which small remnants now remain.
Most of the paintings now in the V&A were acquired in the winter of 1880 – 81 when Caspar Purdon Clarke was sent to India on a purchasing trip to make acquisitions for what was then the South Kensington Museum (now the V&A). The main purpose of the architect who was the first Keeper of the Indian Section and would go on to become Director of the V&A was to buy contemporary objects of a kind not represented in the museum. When in Kashmir, he wandered into a curiosity shop in the capital city of Srinagar, and noticed some large paintings which he immediately bought. Some were rescued from the windows of the shop, where they had been used to block out the winter frosts of the previous season. Their condition, inevitably, is poor: some have been damaged by fire or rain, and the colours on all the pages have faded significantly. In addition, at some stage in their history, probably in the 19th century, zealots have rubbed out the faces of all the living beings depicted.
Reference: History and Internet
(The writer is a senior journalist).