Mughal Painting: An Interplay of Indigenous and Foreign Traditions

The present work is based on an extensive and critical study of the original Mughal paintings supported by contemporary historical literature and provides fresh perspective for the interpretation and analysis of the painter’s art under the Mughals. After a brief discussion on painting in Islam the author goes on to expound the nature and role of pre-Mughal indigenous traditions in the making of Mughal style. Thereafter, the study turns towards the origin and development of Mughal painting from Humayun to Aurangzeb. Finally, the various influences–Persian, Chinese and European–have been examined. The author concludes that Mughal painting reflectes a non-mechanical fusion of the different cultures of Asia and Europe. It had never been a colonial expression of Persian painting. Despite the presence of a number of elements borrowed from foreign sources, it remained truly Indian from the very beginning. This richly illustrated volume carries finest treasures of Mughal court paintings.