Painting, music and literature flourished during Mughal rule. The Persian influence on painting during Babur and Humayun is noticeable. From the time of Akbar, the policy of religious coexistence had an influence on painting. Both Indian and Persian influences can be seen in the paintings of the post-Akbar period.
Babar
- Babar himself did not contribute much to the Mughal painting.
- No significant examples of Mughal painting during Babar were found.
- Persian painters painted nature, animals, and plants in Babar’s autobiography Baburnama.
- However, Babar had a strong affection for Persian culture and art.
- He Influenced the later development of Mughal painting.
Humayun
- Patronized famous painters Syed Ali and Abdal-Samad.
- They were the prominent person who developed the initial tradition of painting.
- They introduced a mixture of Indian and Persian techniques of painting to the Mughals.
- He did not have much time to promote painting because of his short reign.
Akbar
- He established a separate department (Imperial Atelier (Tasvir Khana)) headed by Khwaja Abdal-Samad to encourage painting.
- In this Tasvir Khana, Akbar had over 100 artists.
- Akbarnama and Hamzanama were the two most important manuscripts produced during his reign.
- Encouraged beautiful paintings on the walls of various palaces of Fatepursikri.
- There were also 17 painters in Akbar’s court, of whom 4 were Muslims and the rest were Hindus.
- Abdal-Samad, Farooq Beg, Khusru Koul, and Jamshed were among Muslim painters.
- Kesulal, Jagannath, Tarachand, Sanwan Das, Daswant, Baswan, etc. were notable among Hindu painters.
- During this period Ramayana-Mahabharata, Persian stories, and Arabya Rajani stories were converted into paintings.
- Tutinama‘s (“Tales of a Parrot“) art was created during his reign.
- In the Baburnama, he included various scenes of Babar’s conquests and life.
Jahangir
- Painting flourished during Jahangir’s reign.
- Jahangir himself was a painter.
- Additionally, European painting had a major influence on Jahangir.
- During this period Indian influence increased in painting rather than Persian influence.
- The subjects of the paintings were vines, flowers, birds, human figures, war, hunting, slaughter etc.
- Agha Raja and Abul Hasan, Mohammad Nadir, Mohammad Murad and Ustad Mansoor were notable among the Muslim painters.
- Prominent Hindu painters were Vishen Das, Tulsi, Manohar, Madhava, Govardhan etc.
- In his autobiography, Tuzk-e-Jahangiri (or Jahangirnama) had a lot of paintings.
- In this book, he included some unusual paintings such as a saint with a tigress, fights between spiders, etc.
- The ‘Mughal school of miniature painting‘ reached its peak during Jahangir’s reign.
Extra Info: Jahangir gave the title ‘Nadir-uz-Zaman’ to Agha Raja and ‘Nadir-ul-Asar’ to Ustad Mansoor.
Extra Info: English Crown sent him a gift of oil paintings which included portraits of the King and Queen.
Shah Jahan
- Shah Jahan gave more importance to architecture than painting.
- “Padshanama” was a famous painting during his reign. It chronicles his life, rule, and important events at court, such as battles, royal ceremonies, etc.
- Painted with exquisite detail and written in Persian on gold-flecked paper.
- His son Dara Shikoh was a patron of painting.
- Famous painters of his time were Mir Hasan, Anup, Chitra, Chitramani, Hasim, Fakirullah etc.
Aurangzeb
- Aurangzeb was not enthusiastic about arts and culture, especially painting.
- Due to his radical Islamic ideology, he stopped further painting in his court.
- Painters were ordered to leave the palace during Aurangzeb’s time.
- He destroyed Akbar’s memorial image at Sikandra.
- During his period many distinct styles of painting were established in Ayodhya, Bengal, Mysore, Hyderabad, and Lucknow.
- In Rajasthan, Rajputs developed their own style of painting (including Hindu mythology).
- Deccan Painting and Pahari Painting were also developed in the Deccan and Himalaya region.
Mughal School of Painting
- The evolution of miniature painting in northern India from the 16th to the mid-19th century is covered by the Mughal School of Miniature Painting.
- The style became famous for its wide range of subjects and sophisticated techniques.
- Usually royal portraits, natural beauty was the specialty of this painting.
- There was early Persian influence. Later Indian spirituality also gained influence in these paintings.
- Common people had no place in the painting.
Rajput School of Painting
- In the 18th century, this art flourished in Rajputana, especially in Jaipur.
- Common people’s religious customs and pastimes took place as the subject of the painting.
- Apart from this, colorful works, epics, mythological stories, war idols, hunting etc. became the subjects of paintings.
Kangra School of Painting
- This art flourished in northern India centered around Kangra in the late 18th century.
- Hindu gods and goddesses, Ramayana, Mahabharata, Rasmala, Gita Govinda, etc. were the main subjects of painting.
- Famous images were Shiva-Parvati and Radha-Kriya.
- Mountain environment, life, dress, scenery, etc. are featured in some areas.