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| Abul Fazl, presenting Akbarnama to the Grand Mogul Akbar |
It was the time of Mughal Emperor Humayun, the year was 1556. Two gentlemen were entering the gates of the city of Agra, in central India, situated on the bank of the Yamuna river.
These gentlemen
were carrying with them the past of their fame in art and the future of Indian miniature
art. They were coming from afar region. They were coming on a hearty
invitation from the second Mughal Emperor, Humayun. From Persia,
present-day Iran. Their names were Mir Sayyid and Abdus Samad.
The paintings were not an alien concept in
India. Just the wall paintings of Ajanta are sufficient to mention the Indian
contribution to the field of art. But the miniature painting was a new bird in the
flora and fauna of the lands of the Ganga and Yamina rivers.
So, the above artist-gentlemen did train
the Indian artists. The Persian artists got help and respect from Emperor
Humayun and his son, Emperor Akbar. They pioneered the art of Miniature
paintings in India.
The time passed on the small valium canvases, and the time passed with squirrel brushes. The time ran with the gold and silver colours. The
artists tried finding newer shades from locally available materials.
Mughal Miniature Paintings had Persian
flavour but technically remained Indian in most of their characteristics. The animal painting was local, the birds were from the Indian gardens, and the Emperors and the kings portrayed
were born Indian.
Now let us decode one of the finest paintings done during the
time of Emperor Akbar. This painting depicts the scene wherein the Poet Abul
Fazl presents a copy of Akbarnama to Emperor Akbar. Akbarnama was a biography of Emperor Akbar, narrating his heroic deeds with miniature
illustrations. As it was customary to paint the miniatures on several levels,
this painting was also painted on three levels. Let us see what is narrated in
the upper half of the painting.
Obviously, the central figure is the
Emperor himself. Painted with a brighter yellow dress and red turban. No other
object is painted as bright red as his turban. Poet Abul Fazl, sitting below
the seat of the Emperor had a copy of the Akbarnama. The book was the result of
the skill and labour of several artists. It took at least two years to complete
the illustrations.
Here the Emperor is not shown wearing a pompous dress as usual. But all other courtesans are well-dressed and standing silent, in respect-paying postures. On both sides of the Emperor, we see an equal number of courtesans, painted almost in similar attires with a similar technique of painting.
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The Secret of Yellow Colour: Do you know how miniature artists made yellow colours in past?
They feed the cows the mango tree leaves and then used the urine of the cows to make the yellow colour. |
The backside shows the articles used in the
emperor's court: the jugs and bowls, painted in subdued colours. The upper portion is the decorative balcony, painted in subdued red. The blue sky also marks its
presence.
What strikes our eyes most is the use of
yellow on the scarf the emperor had and the colour of the cloth on which he was
sitting. The gold must have been used to paint
this yellow. It is so bright. Look at the weist-skarf of every courtsan. All
are painted the same yellow.
If we see the overall effect of the
painting, we can arrive at the conclusion that the emperor wanted to declare that
he was a simple man. He did not believe in the royal and costly life. He wanted to
look like just other men in his surrounding.
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| Emperor Akbar in his Court |
But the scene looks different. The Emperor, the courtesans and other attendees are in their festival attire. The place is not sitting on its regular premises; it is sitting in a tent-like arrangement.
The scene in fact looks like a make-shift court of justice. Look at the right-side middle portion. a person supposed to be a convict is tied with ropes. He must be a prisoner. he is presented before the emperor. so he must be a big head.
In ancient India, and the medieval period too, the kings and emperors were used to declare whether a person was a convict or not in such an open court.
What attracts our eyes is the levels of the painting. We can see different five parts in this painting, each part depicting a different scene. Though all the scenes are connected with the system of imparting justice and maintaining a law and order system.
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Tailpiece After the death of Emperor Shah Jahan, his son Aurangzeb stopped helping artists. Resultantly these artists started working with the regional Rajput heads. That made the art of miniature spread in the remote areas of the country. |
[Image Courtesy: Image at the top - The original uploader was Евгений Ардаев at Russian Wikipedia., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. The other two images are cropped portions of the image on the top. At Bottom, Unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons]
