Rama and his allies arrive at the shores of the ocean
Folio from a manuscript of the Ramayana in Persian translation
Mughal; ca. 1594
Opaque watercolor and gold on paper
Cynthia Hazen Polsky Collection (1010-IP)
A prince and lady in a chamber
Illustration to the musical mode Harsha Ragaputra
Basohli, Punjab Hills; ca. 1700–10
Opaque watercolor with silver, gold, and beetle-wing case on paper
Cynthia Hazen Polsky Collection (2083-IP)
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Courtly Manuscripts
At the Hindu courts of the Rajput rulers, a vigorous and expressive
new style developed in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries devoted
to the illustration of devotional texts such as the Bhagavata Purana
as well as secular, courtly subjects such as ragamala (garland of
the ragas), the systematic illustration of the northern Indian musical
modes (ragas and raginis) according to received poetic tradition.
The robust early Rajput style influenced the dynamic early Mughal
school. The new imperial studio established by Akbar (r. 1556–1605)
included many native Indian painters under the direction of imported
Persian masters. The refined Iranian tradition of illustrated manuscript
production in a vertical codex format was integrated with the indigenous
Indian tradition and with the naturalism derived from the study
of European prints.
The texts illustrated for Akbar included the chronicles of his
life and the memoirs of his grandfather Babur (r. 1526–30),
the founder of the dynasty. The familiar classics of Persian poetry
were superbly illustrated, as were the newly commissioned Persian
translations of Indian narratives or religious texts, including
the Ramayana epic. The steady dispersal of Mughal-trained painters
to work at provincial courts gave a new impetus to the local schools
of Rajput painting in Rajasthan and the Punjab Hills.
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