[dates in the brackets indicate the dates of the reign]
A few weeks ago I went to see the beautiful exhibition dedicated to the Great Mughal art that traces the evolution of this distinctive art that flourished in the 16th and 17th century under the reign of three Mughal emperors. The golden age of the Mughal art lasted from 1580 to 1650 and spanned the reign of three emperors: Akbar (1556-1605), his son Jahangir (1605-1627) and grandson Shah Jahan (1627-1658). Hindu and Muslim artists in the imperial workshop created a new style of art. Akbar’s grandfather Babur (1526-1530), a Central Asian martial adventurer and the ruler of Kabul raided India and demanded the submission of young Sultan Ibrahim of Delhi. A century earlier, Barbur’s Turkish ancestor, Timur (1370-1405) raided Delhi and massacred its population. Babur invaded the Delhi Sultanate again in 1526 and established the dynasty known as Mughal (in Persian: Mongol).
This dynasty goes back to the Central Asian conqueror Genghis Khan (1206-1227). The Mughal dynasty ruled the diverse population of India with the cosmopolitan court. Persian being the language of culture attracted many Iranian artists, architects and calligraphers. Akbar expanded his court, administration and army through wide-ranging recruitment and cultural policies that attracted Muslim and non-Muslim Indians. He developed a more centralised fiscal and administrative system. The Mughal Empire under Akbar was a complex synthesis of Central Asian, Islamic and diverse Indian processes, cultures, and people. He wanted to expand the Empire through territorial conquest. The Mughal armies attacked the neighbouring states and suppressed popular rebellions and resistance. Akbar created imperial workshops to produce luxury items for the court of which the most important was the House of Books (Ketab-Khana) where manuscripts were made. Akbar himself could not read or write but loved books being read to him which he memorised.
Paintings, carpets and textiles with very intricately crafted details and motifs were encouraged by the court of Akbar. He personally observed conventional Sunni forms of worship but he also incorporated into his court and administration non-Sunni people, ideologies and practices to the extent unprecedented for his predecessors. With the passage of time he widened his religious beliefs. At some point Akbar discussed the alliance with the Portuguese against the Ottoman Empire. To make his Agra court culturally eminent Akbar recruited the finest and most expensive artists from across India and the Islamic lands. Among his most famous courtiers was the singer Mian Tansen who is still revered for creating many ragas which constitute the tonic and aesthetic foundation for classical Indian music. In 1567 Akbar invited a poet of Persian, Shaikh Abu Al-Faiz (pen name Faizi). Akbar also patronised many finest painters from the prestigious Safavid court as well as the Indian painters. Gradually Akbar promoted a distinctive style combining the Persian and Indian aesthetics. Many Mughal palaces and gardens featured sophisticated use of water, often perfumed and conducted over illuminated cascades with some water being heated for bathing. Around 1575 in Fatehpur Akbar built another highly controversial building, called the ibadat – khans (“divine worship hall”) which housed fiery evening debates among leading religious scholars from various communities. With time Akbar moved away from his earlier Orthodox Sunni beliefs and moved towards heterodox beliefs. At the same time he gave substantial financial support to some Hindu temples, prohibited the slaughter of cows and he embraced India-based orders. From 1578 Akbar welcomed Jains to his court and he reconciled divisions within the Jain community. Akbar admired European-style art for its unfamiliar perspective. He displayed a special admiration towards pictures of Christ and Mary and commissioned the Jesuits to compose the biography of Jesus in Persian. During his Lahore period (1586-1598) Akbar continued to develop his court culture. He recruited 130 painters who produced richly illustrated editions of calligraphically exquisite Persian texts, vastly expanding his library. His scholars translated literary and religious texts from Portuguese and Sanskrit into Persian including Kalhana’s Rajatarangini, a history of Kashmir kings. Accurate translations would inform Muslims and Hindus about their respective history and each other’s sacred texts which would disempower the pretentious religious leaders. Such cross cultural exchanges helped Akbar locate himself in the Indic traditions. Due to his love for stories and history he commissioned the elderly of his court who knew Babur or Humayun (1530-1540) to write their memories of those predecessors.
Over Akbar’s long reign he developed key processes of the Mughal Empire including the promotion of art in all its forms and literature.
It is important to remember that the Mughal Empire was invading neighbouring lands. Akbar justified his many invasions by asserting that enemy rulers were either immoral rebels against his sovereignty or abusers of their people who deserved justice that only Akbar could provide.
Under the reign of Jahangir (1605-1627) Akbar’s son the art flourished further. Many European and Iranian artists worked in the court of Jahangir where one of the greatest artistry techniques was established called enamelling. The first England’s ambassador to the court of Mughals Thomas Roe called India under the reign of Jahangir “the treasury of the world”. Jahangir loved travelling across India and recording his thoughts on the plants, nature and architecture he saw. His memoirs were then illustrated by the court artists.
Jahangir, whose name means ‘World Seizer’ , believed that his objective as an emperor was world domination. During his reign, courtiers composed numerous books on etiquette. He kept a Persian language journal Tuzuk – I Jahangiri from his coronation until 1624 which was based on the similar journal that Babur had. He patronised fine art and valued naturalistic and stylistic individuality. Even though he commissioned fewer paintings than had Akbar, Jahangir preferred high quality materials and refinement. He significantly expanded his library and graded manuscripts into five classes based on the quality of the calligraphy, illumination, paper and content. He patronised poets who produced literature in Persian and Indic regional languages but valued city building and monumental architecture less than Akbar. Jahangir preferred developing gardens, bridges, tombs. He favoured light and airy spaces, decorated with rich textiles, murals and portraits. Jahangir quizzed men from various religions, often posing provactive questions and pitting theologians against each other.
The Portuguese, the English East India Company and Dutch East India Company had the cultural impact on the arts created with the Mughal Empire through intercontinental trade. Europeans used vast amounts of silver and gold from the Americas to purchase Indian made textiles bolstering the Mughal economy. Crops from the Americas, including tobacco, maize, chili peppers and tomatoes were widely adopted by Indian cultivators. Tobacco was actually banned by Jahangir because of the effect it had on most people.
Among diverse attendants at Jahangir’s court were the leading Jain ascetics. He was curious about their non-violence approach which caused him to minimise his hunting. Similarly to Akbar he patronised artists but at the same time he was a brutal ruler who even though never engaged personally in war but his forces under his command often erected towers of severed enemy heads. Under his reign the frontiers of the Mughal Empire expanded.
The reign of Jahangir followed by the rule of Shah Jahan (1627-1658) who continued the focus on the artistic production especially architecture and reshaped the imperial court over his three decade long rule. He built the Taj Mahal, the mausoleum for his second wife, Mumtaz Majal who died in 1631. For four centuries the Taj Mahal has stood as an architectural masterpiece, famous for the quality of its workmanship and proportion of its forms. After this tomb’s Shah Jahan in 1639 he commissioned his imperial city, Shahjahanabad which had an imposing red sandstone walled citadel, the Qila I Mualla known as the Red Fort with its perfumed water canals extended through the complex and cascaded over illuminated falls. The separate structures for dwelling, administration and pleasure were constructed with interior and exterior walls of white marble. Some tiles depicted European style images of Quarnic Biblical stories. The Bengali regional style of deeply curved sloping roofs with gilded metal coverings were also a common feature at the Red Fort. The city had the elaborate and efficient water supply and sewage systems.
Shah Jahan also commissioned the production of the golden Peacock Throne: a raised 6.3 square meter platform under 4.6 meter high canopy surmounted by ornamental peacocks, and gem encrusted which took seven years to build. He also ordered a new capital city, Shahjahanabad. Under his reign the floral motifs were widely used in paintings, architecture replacing the other patterns. Many foreign travellers and artists from across the world were treated by the lucrative employment at his court including the French jeweller Augustin Hiriart and Dutch diamond polisher Abraham de Duyts. He supervised the series of historians and commissioned them to compile his massive official regal chronicle, the Padshahnama. He also had drafts regularly read out for his correction and elaboration. His portraits presented him in majestic full profile with halo. Non-imperial paintings during his reign showed much innovation but imperial artists emphasised the stability and gravity of events. Imperial artists incorporated European motifs and techniques.
Shah Jahan’s court was adored by diplomatic missions from the Safavid, Uzbek, Ottoman courts and other rulers. When his forces defeated the Portuguese allies, four hundred prisoners-European men and women and those of mixed European-Asian ancestry sought support of the Emperor. Those who converted to Islam were released but those who did not were either imprisoned or became slaves.
During his reign Shah Jahan’s political power had significantly weakened. He fought any opposition within the Empire and wanted to extend its frontiers. The long military campaigns put strains on the Empire. Following Shah Jahan’s death his four sons fought for power in a bloody civil war. To prevent further bloodshed, Shah Jahan’s successor, the Emperor Aurangzeb (1658-1707) wrote a will partitioning the Empire in 1707. Until 1857 the series of weak emperors reigned who had very little control over the state. Some historians define the death of Aurangzeb as the end of the Mughal Empire but the year 1858 is commonly considered as the end of the Mughal Empire when the British passed the Government of India Act under which the land controlled by the East India Company was handed over to the government of Queen Victoria. During the last 150 years of the Mughal Empire (1707-1858) the emperors lost the control over the borderlands and their reign was more nominal than practical. The last three Mughal Emperors were respected poets [Shah Alam II (1760-1806), Akbar II (1806-1837), Bahadur Shah II (1837-1858)] continuing tradition of art patronage.
The diversity of the Mughal Empire was reflected in arts it produced. The significance of the Mughal Empire and its arts was enormous for South Asia, the Islamic world and the West. The Mughal dynasty sponsored the acquisition and production of manuscripts from many traditions. Emperors also directed courtiers to translate works from the Sanskrit genres. They helped translate the Bible into Persian and collected stories from the conquered regions and patronised work in local languages. The Mughal emperors incorporated motifs and images from Islamic, Hindu and Christian sacred histories including through visual arts. They valued the imperial library which included religious tracts, literature, fine paintings. They used architecture, court newsletters, coins, to publish their ideology.
I hope you will enjoy the video I recorded during my visit to the exhibition shared above and pictures I took of the Mughal art from its golden era.
