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| Jahangir with Falcon |
When we
look at paintings, we slowly realise how these paintings communicate to us.
Each line, each form, each colour, the spatial arrangement speaks volumes. By
studying these paintings, we can realise what kind of culture prevailed during
that period. The very word ‘culture’ itself denotes lot of things like material
culture, the way of living, the behavioural aspect, tastes, ideas, concepts and values. Keeping all these
things in mind, one can have a look at these rich paintings for deeper
understanding. When I look at these mogul miniature paintings in the backdrop
of fast growing urbanisation in recent
years, which is a matter of concern for all of us, these paintings beautifully unfold before us the
richness of vegetation, which the artists have captured in fine lines and
colours. Now cities are growing both horizontally and vertically because of the
greediness of real estate people and that too at the cost of beautiful, rich
vegetation. If urban development
continues in the same manner, the next generations will see vegetation only in
paintings and books.
Moghul and
Rajput miniatures, two independent schools of art, are considered to be the cream of Indian art,
which flourished from 15th to
17th century. The Mogul Dynasty was established in India by the emperor
Babar. Emperor Babar was much more in interested in expanding his empire, so he
could not give much attention to the developments of art and architecture,
though he had a strong liking for art, literature and music. But the emperors who followed Babar have given India a huge collection of
unforgettable miniatures and
architecture of excellence to India. The
emperor Barbar’s son Humayun, when he ascended to the throne, was forced in to
exile to Persia in the beginning as one of his generals rose against him.
Emperor Humayun as a refugee was given shelter by Safavid Dynasy which was
ruling Persia then. During his stay in Persia, Humayun got acquainted with the
Persian art and artists. As a result, while coming back to India after
defeating the general with the help of Safavid
emperor, he brought a couple of famous artists from Persia. Those
Persian artists and Indian artists worked together and produced a body of
interesting works , which is the fusion of Indian and Persian sensibilities.
Today also, we see these works with great pleasure as these have tremendous
charm.
Coming to the point, in Mogul miniatures we see a
lot of importance being given to vegetation. The rulers and the artists as well
gave priority to detail about the vegetation. It shows their close connectivity
with nature and love for it. While going through the pages of Mogul history, I
read that emperor Jahangir, the grandson of Humayun, was very much interested
in collecting the rare spies of birds, plants and flowers. He used to instruct
his ministers to collect rare things and document them through painting. And
these paintings were preserved in a systematic manner in a chronological way. As a result, we see mogul miniatures,
especially the borders embellished with beautiful flora and fauna. Most of the
portraits of these emperors and their family members have beautiful borders
interlaced with flowers, birds and plants. Human being as a part of nature, his/her
association with nature is essential for harmonious living and these borders
inhabited with vegetation reflect the same concept.
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| Shah Abbas II with falcon |
During his time, the emperor Jehangir used to get
his portraits done by famous artists. As a result, we see a series of portraits
of Jehangir in various moods. Not only his portraits, his family members too
had got their portraits done by the court painters. The court painter culture
had developed during the reign of Jehangir, who was very much interested in
art, literature and music. Those highly respected court painters were very
skilled and
each one was expert in a certain field. Sometimes the artists expert in
a certain field used paint that part and other artists used to contribute their
expert skills to the remaining parts, so it used to be a collective work. So,
most of the paintings are not signed by the artists. Due to
the existence of these court painters, the practice of painting had continued
for a long time. The emperor Jehangir had an eye for beautiful and rare species;
the rich portrait of Jehangir with
Falcon on his right hand is the indication of his genuine interest in nature.
The falcon seems to be in a sweet mood as wings have been raised to cheer up
the majesty and the emperor is looking at the bird intently. The most
interesting fact is the long gown of the emperor has been covered with animals
like deers, tigers, birds and plants. Roland Barthes has written extesively about
the dress and decoding, and we can apply the same decoding theory here to get
deeper meanings.
Here is one more painting belonging to a dynasty
called Safavid Dynasty, which ruled
Persia then. The portrait belongs to Shah Abbas II who ruled Iran from 1642 to
1666. He was the seventh Shah of Safavid dynasty. The emperor Jehangir’s
portrait and the portrait of Shah AbbasII have similarities. Shah Abbas has
been shown with a falcon on his right hand and the borders have been covered
with the thick vegetation with animals and birds. Life of animals and birds has
been observed closely and depicted naturally by the artists in both the
paintings. Love making, copulating, killing – all have been depicted through
delicate sensuous lines and colours. Though these borders give pleasure at the
first sight, on the second and third look, the paintings reveal the secrets of the
vegetation. The birds, animals, tress, plants have been rendered very
realistically.
The Moghul Miniatures are a source of eternal
inspiration for artists and the onlookers. Though small in size, they speak
volumes.
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