Early Mughal Painting PDF
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EARLY MUGHAL PAINTING The Polsky Lectures in Indian and Southeast Asian Art and Archaeology Prince Akbar Hunting a Nilgae. Early Mughal Fainting MILO CLEVELAND BEACH Published for the Asia Society by HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS Cambridge, Massachusetts, and London, England 1987 Copyright © 1987 by the Asia Society All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 32 ι This book is printed on acid-free paper, and its binding materials have been chosen for strength and durability. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Beach, Milo Cleveland. Early Mughal painting. (The Polsky lectures in Indian and Southeast Asian art and archaeology) Bibliography: p. Includes index, ι. Illumination of books and manuscripts, Mogul. 2. Illumination of books and manuscripts, Islamic—Ii.dia. 3. India—Kings and rulers—Art patronage. I. Asia Society. II. Title. III. Series. ND3247.B374 1987 745.6'7'O954 87-197 ISBN 0-674-22185-0 (alk. paper) Designed by Gwen Frankfeldt For my parents Preface THE TEXT of this book has been adapted from a series of three lectures given at the Asia Society in New York City during the fall of 1985. The Polsky Lectures were established by Cynthia Hazen Polsky, and it was a great honor to follow Dr. Pramod Chandra, who initiated the series in 1981, and Dr. A. J. Bernet-Kempers in this biennial event. The Festival of India, an extraordinary series of exhibitions, performing arts programs, and other activities, also opened in New York in September 1985. Two major museum exhibi- tions at that time focused on Mughal India, so a reconsider- ation of some aspects of Mughal painting seemed to be an appropriate topic for the lectures. As research for the talks progressed, it became clear to me that many entrenched ideas about Mughal art needed reexamination. To the extent to which this has been done here, this study should be considered work-in-progress and read as a series of speculations. We know enough about the Mughals now to realize that we know less than we had ever before thought. Since the first Europeans reached the court of Akbar in the later sixteenth century, Mughal India has provided the Euro- pean and American world with idealized and often quite fan- tastic images of physical wealth and artistic splendor—the term "mogul" has even entered our vocabulary to indicate any particularly important and powerful person. The Mughals were unusually receptive to foreign visitors and attitudes, of- ten absorbing and adapting imported ideas within their own cultural system. This is directly visible even in their paintings, which therefore seem comprehensible (and easily interesting) to Europeans and Americans seeking to learn about the sub-
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