Miniature

About

• The evolution of miniature art reached new heights after India’s direct engagement with Islamic civilization. The arrival of the Mughal Empire (1526–1757 AD) marked a turning point, as imperial studios were established at the Mughal court, ushering in a transformative era in Indian art.
• This period gave rise to a wide array of paintings—royal portraits, festive scenes, illustrated manuscripts, and album miniatures—that spread across the Indian subcontinent. While Persian influence initially shaped the aesthetics of miniature painting, Indian artists quickly infused their own distinctive style, reclaiming artistic originality and setting the foundation for a uniquely Indian expression.

Pala School (8th century CE)

About

• The illustrations of religious texts on Buddhism created under the Palas of eastern India and the Jain texts created in western India during the 11th and 12th centuries A.D. are the earliest examples of miniature painting in India.
• At institutions like Nalanda, Odantapuri, Vikramsila, and Somarupa, a significant number of palm-leaf manuscripts relating to Buddhist themes were written and decorated with pictures of Buddhist deities.
• To receive education and religious instruction, pilgrims and students from all over South-East Asia gathered there. They brought bronzes and manuscripts, which helped spread the Pala style to Nepal, Tibet, Burma, Sri Lanka, Java, etc., back to their home countries as examples of Buddhist art from the Pala period.
• The majority of the Pala illustrated manuscripts that have survived are from the Vajrayana School of Buddhism.
• The painting by Pala displays a naturalistic aesthetic and is distinguished by sinuous lines and subdued colour tones.
• The Astasahasrika Prajnaparamita manuscript, also known as the perfection of Wisdom written in eight thousand lines, is one of the best examples. It is kept in Oxford, England.
• After Muslim invaders decimated the Buddhist monasteries in the first half of the 13th century, Pala art abruptly came to an end. Some of the artists and monks made their way to Nepal, where they helped to strengthen the country’s already-strong artistic traditions.
• Colours were used in this form of painting which had symbolic meanings

Mughal school

About

• In India’s history of painting, the founding of the Mughal School of Painting is regarded as a turning point.
• The Mughal School of Painting began with the establishment of the Mughal empire in the reign of Akbar in 1560 CE, who was keenly interested in the art of painting and architecture.
• A painting studio was established at the start of his reign under the direction of two Persian masters, Mir Sayyed Ali and Abdul Samad Khan, who had previously worked for his father Humayun.
• To work with the Persian masters, a sizable number of Indian artists from all over India were enlisted.
• The Safavid school of Persian painting and the native Indian painting style came together in a harmonious way to form the Mughal style.
• It is primarily aristocratic and secular, characterized by supple naturalism based on careful observation of nature and fine and delicate drawing.
• An illustrated manuscript of the Tuti-Nama in the Cleveland Museum of Art (USA) appears to be the first work of the Mughal School.
• The Mughal style is depicted in this manuscript’s artwork in its early stages. Soon after, between 1564 and 1569 CE, a very ambitious project known as the Hamza-Nama illustrations on cloth was finished. It originally had 1400 leaves in 17 volumes.
• Along with the two Persian masters already mentioned, other well-known painters who worked in Akbar’s court included Dasvanth, Miskina, Nanha, Kanha, Basawan, Manohar, Doulat, Mansur,  Kesu, Bhim Gujarati, etc.
• Jahangir had a great fascination for nature and took delight in the portraiture of birds, animals, and flowers.
• Important manuscripts that were illustrated during his reign include the Anwar-i-sunavli, another fable book, and the animal fable book Ayar-i-Danish.
• The famous painters of Jahangir are Aqa Riza, Abul Hasan, Mansur, Bishan Das, Manohar, Goverdhan, Balchand, Daulat, Mukhlis, Bhim, and Inayat.
• The portrait of Jahangir illustrated is a typical example of a miniature executed during the period of Jahangir.
• A series of the Razm-Nama dated 1616 CE, a series of the Rasikapriya (1610-1615), and a series of the Ramayana of circa 1610 CE are some other notable examples of the Mughal School.
• The Gulistan and the Bustan of Sadi, which were copied for the emperor in the first and second years of his reign, and the Shah Jahan Nama, are two notable examples of such manuscripts. Other paintings depicting groups of ascetics and mystics as well as several illustrated manuscripts were also created during his time.
• Being a puritan, Aurangzeb’s reign saw a decline in the quality of painting and a significant loss of that quality. The provincial courts received a large influx of court painters.
• After Aurangzeb’s neglect, there was a revival of Mughal painting during the reign of Bahadur Shah.
• After 1712 CE, the Mughal painting again started deteriorating under the later Mughals.

Rajasthani School

About

• Akbar, the succeeding Mughal Emperor, constructed an atelier for them to promote the rich art form. These artists, in turn, trained Indian artists who created paintings in a new distinct style inspired by the Mughals’ royal and romantic lives.
• Rajput or Rajasthani miniature is a style of miniature created by Indian artists. Several schools of painting emerged during this period, including Mewar (Udaipur), Bundi, Kotah, Marwar (Jodhpur), Bikaner, Jaipur, and Kishangarh.

Features

• The cults of Vaishnavism, Saivism, and Sakti had a huge influence on this school’s pictorial art.
• The various Krishna cults provided a very rich field for the painter, who made a significant contribution to the development of Indian painting with his artistic skill and devotion.
• The Rajasthani School of painting is marked by bold drawings and strong and contrasting colours.
• Figures are rendered flatly, with no attempt to depict perspective in a naturalistic manner.
• To distinguish one scene from another, the surface of the painting is sometimes divided into several compartments of different colours.
• The Mughal era’s influence can be seen in the drawing’s refinement and the introduction of some naturalism in the figures and trees.
• In addition to illustrating Ramayana stories, kings’ and queens’ royal lifestyles were also shown.
• Additionally, they illustrated social norms and the modifications made by kings to advance society. A distinctive aspect of the Rajasthani School was the background of the paintings.
• Paper, ivory, and silk were used as their canvas in this school of painting.

Bundi school

About

• This style of painting is dated back to 1625 AD
• A painting showing Bhairavi Ragini, in the Allahabad Museum is one of the earliest examples of a Bundi painting.
• Themes from the life of Krishna are a major theme in this school of painting
• An illustration of the aforementioned is found in the late 17th-century poem Rasikapriya, which contains a scene in which Krishna attempts to steal butter from a Gopi. However, when he discovers that the pot only contains a piece of cloth and a few other items, not butter, he realizes that the Gopi has tricked him. 
• Trees can be seen in the foreground and a river is shown in the foreground with wavy lines. Flowers and a pair of waterbirds can be seen in the river. The border of the painting is a stunning shade of red.
• The salient characteristic of this school of painting is the rich and glowing colours, the rising sun in golden colour, crimson-red horizon, overlapping and semi-naturalistic trees
• The delicate drawing of the faces and the use of naturalism in the treatment of the trees are both examples of Mughal influence. On the top, the text is printed in black on a yellow background.

Malwa School

About

• It was most prosperous between 1600 and 1700 CE and is a prime example of Hindu Rajput courts. Malwa School rejects a specific centre for its origin and instead suggests a vast territory of Central India.
• This contrasts with the specificity of Rajasthani schools, which emerged and thrived in precise territorial kingdoms and courts of their respective kings. After the 17th century came to an end, this conservative style vanished.

Salient features of this form of painting

• Malwa paintings display a preference for rigidly flat compositions, dark backgrounds (often black or chocolate brown), figures set against solid colour patches, and vibrantly coloured architecture.
• The school’s most appealing features are a primitive charm and a simple childlike vision.
• The first piece in this genre is an illustrated Rasikapriy from 1634, followed by a series of illustrations for the Amaru Ataka, a Sanskrit poem (1652).
• The Bhagavata-Purana, the musical modes (Ragamala), and other Hindu literary and devotional works are also illustrated.

Mewar school

About

• One of the most significant schools of Indian miniature painting from the 17th and 18th centuries is the Mewar painting. It was created in the Hindu principality of Mewar and is a school in the Rajasthani style (in Rajasthan state).

Salient features

• The works of the school are characterized by simple bright colours and direct emotional appeal.
• The earliest known Mewar painting is a series of Ragamala paintings by Misardi that were created in 1605 CE in Chawand, a small town close to Udaipur.
• Most of the paintings of this series are in the collection of Shri Gopi Krishna Kanoria.
• Through 1680, the expressive and dynamic style persisted in the region with some minor variations, after which the Mughal influence became more pronounced.
• Despite the popularity of religious subjects, portraiture and the life of the ruler occupied an increasing number of paintings.

Pahari Style

About

• In sub-Himalayan India through Himachal Pradesh, from Jammu to Almora and Garhwal, the Pahari style developed and thrived between the 17th and 19th centuries. The Pahari paintings can be divided into two categories: Basholi and Kangra School and Jammu or Dogra School.
• The bold, intense Basohli Painting, which originated in Basohli in Jammu and Kashmir, and the delicate, lyrical Kangra paintings, which came to be associated with the style before other schools of painting emerged, each produced stark variations within the genre.

Basohli School

About

• This school of Pahari painting received patronage from Raja Kripal Pal
• Famous works produced by this school include miniatures created in the style of Rasamanjari illustrations by a painter by the name of Devidasa in 1694.
• Another well-known illustration from this school of painting dates to 1730 AD and is taken from a series of paintings by Manaku of the Gita Govinda.
• The facial type changes, becoming a little heavier, and the tree forms take on a more naturalistic appearance, possibly as a result of the Mughal painting’s influence.
• In this miniature, it is possible to see the use of vibrant, contrasting colours, a monochromatic background, big eyes, bold lines, beetles’ wings to depict diamonds in ornaments, a narrow sky, and a red border.

Kangra School

About

• This collection of paintings is referred to as the Kangra style because Raja Sansar Chand of Kangra’s portraits is the only other painter who painted in a similar manner to them. The Nainsukh family is primarily credited with creating paintings in the Kangra style.
• Beginning in the early 19th century, some Pahari painters received patronage from Maharaja Ranjit Singh and the Sikh nobility in Punjab, where they painted portraits and other miniatures in a modified Kangra style that persisted through the middle of the century.

Salient features of this school of art:

• This school of art is distinguished by its delicate drawing and naturalistic quality.
• The Kangra style, which is distinguished by serene beauty and delicate execution, is unquestionably the most poetic of all Indian styles.
• The most distinguishing aspect of this style is the way in which the female face is defined, with a straight nose that is parallel to the forehead, a trend that began in the 1790s.
• The most popular themes that were painted were the Bhagvata Purana, Gita Govinda, Nala Damayanti, Bihari Satsai, Ragamala and Baramasa

Deccani School

About

• The Deccan painting was created in the Muslim capitals of the Deccan sultanates that emerged from the dissolution of the Bahmani Sultanate by 1520 in the Deccan region of Central India. Bijapur, Golkonda, Ahmadnagar, Bidar, and Berar were among them. The main period was from the late sixteenth to the middle of the seventeenth century, with a revival of sorts in the middle of the eighteenth century, which by that time was centred on Hyderabad.
• The Deccan painting outperforms the early Mughal art that was developing concurrently with the north in “the brilliance of their colour, the sophistication and artistry of their composition, and a general air of decadent luxury.” Other differences include painting “tall women with small heads” wearing saris and “poorly modelled” faces in three-quarter view rather than mostly in profile in the Mughal style. Although there are many royal portraits, they do not accurately depict their Mughal counterparts. The representation of buildings is as “totally flat screen-like panels.”

Sub-schools in the Deccani school of painting:

Ahmednagar

• A collection of poems written in honour of Hussain Nizam Shah I of Ahmednagar (1553–1565) and his queen contains the earliest examples of the Ahmednagar painting.
• This manuscript, titled “Tarif-in-Hussain Shahi,” dates from the years 1565 to 1569 and is kept at the Bharat ltihas Samshodaka Mandala in Poona.
• The “Hindola Raga” from around 1590 AD and portraits of Burhan Nizam Shah II of Ahmednagar (1591–96 AD) and Malik Amber from around 1605 AD, both found in the National Museum in New Delhi and other museums, are some additional fine examples of the Ahmednagar painting.
• Persian influence – high horizon, gold sky, and landscape.

Bijapur

• Ali Adil Shah, I, and his successor Ibrahim II in Bijapur were patrons of the painting.
• The Najum-al-ulum (Stars of Sciences), an encyclopedia that is now housed in the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin, was illustrated in 1570 AD during the reign of Ali Adil Shah I. an 876 miniatures in this manuscript
• The women depicted in the illustrations are tall and slim and are dressed in South Indian attire.
• The Deccani tradition is represented by the vibrant colour scheme, the palm trees, the animals, and both men and women. The Persian tradition is reflected in the lavish use of the colour gold, some flowering plants, and the arabesques on top of the throne.
• Some exhibit the Lepakshi temple murals’ influence, especially in how women are portrayed.

Golconda

• The earliest paintings recognized as being by Golconda are a collection of five charming works from around 1590 A.D. that are housed in the British Museum in London and were created during the time of Muhammad Quli Quta Shah (1580-1611) Golconda.
• They show dancing girls entertaining the company.
• The Golconda painting “Lady with the Myna bird,” which was created around 1605 A.D., is yet another outstanding example.
• Both the southern tradition of the Vijayanagar murals, as seen in the treatment of female types and costumes, and the northern tradition of pre-Mughal painting, which was thriving in Malwa, were influenced by this school of painting. The treatment of the horizon gold sky and landscape also shows the Persian painting’s influence. In contrast to the northern painting, these colours are vibrant and rich.

Hyderabad

• The establishment of the Asafjhi dynasty by Mir Qamruddin Khan marked the beginning of painting in Hyderabad.
• The style of the painting is decorative.
• The miniature exhibits typical Deccani facial types and attire, as well as rich colours, which are hallmarks of Hyderabadi paintings. It was created during the third decade of the 18th century.

Tanjore

• In South India during the late 18th and early 19th centuries, a painting style characterized by bold drawing, shading strategies, and the use of pure and brilliant colours flourished at Tanjore.
• Indian Thanjavur paintings stand out from other types of paintings due to their dense composition, rich surface, and vibrant colours.
• Then, to further enhance their appeal, they are embellished with pearls, glass, and semi-precious stone accents. They appear to be three-dimensional due to the relief work. India’s Tanjore Painting originated back in the sixteenth century.
• From the 16th to the 18th centuries, Maratha princes, Nayakas, Rajus communities of Tanjore and Trichi, and Naidus of Madurai were also patrons of Indian Thanjavur Paintings.
• The majority of these paintings are based on saints and Hindu gods and goddesses.
• The central figure of the painting is always the main subject. Tanjore paintings are known as “Palagai Padam” in the area because they are typically created on solid wood planks (palagai meaning wooden plank and Padam meaning picture).