In this gallery, we present many fine examples of paintings from the Mughal Empire (1526-1857). Espoused and cultivated by the Mughal court, the artform married the bold styles of classical Indian miniature painting, dating as far back as the 9th century, with the more delicate aesthetic of Persian and Deccani artists and European influences from artists such as Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528).
The Mughal Empire, established in 1526 by Zahiruddin Muhammad Babur (1482- 1530) inaugurated 20 emperors, all linked by male descendants to the blood of Babur and through him to his great Central Asian ancestors, Timur Lane (d.1405) on his father’s side and Genghis Khan (c.1162 – 1227) on his mother’s.
Babur, when he came to replace his father on the throne of Fergana at the tender age of twelve, was already well versed in the art of politics, securing immediately the cooperation of his father’s aides and some of his enemies, over the course of his manifold forays into Samarkand and Bukhara. However, unable to conquer the stronghold of Samarkand, he turned southeast towards Afghanistan and took Kabul in a sea of bloodshed. A born strategist, he then claimed dominion over Hindustan (India).
He advised his sons to maintain the respect he, himself, had shown to the religious and cultural sensibilities of the local peoples, especially the ruling classes. This is how the Mughals formed alliances with both Hindu and Muslim feudal rulers, effectively co-opting them as participants in the new empire. The Mughals did not see themselves as imperialists and or conquerors – rather they were princes looking for a homeland; a place where they could live and cultivate what would become a thriving civilization.
The Mughal warrior-politician-strategist-prince was also endowed with an artistic and poetic disposition, as evidenced in their founder Babur’s memoirs, the Baburnama. Thus Mughal emperors, perhaps Emperor Akbar chief among them, promoted a new aesthetic for their court: one that mirrored their commitment to an India that embraced the cultural, religious, and ethnic diversity of its peoples. Craftsmen from northern India (then known as Hindustan) – Hindu and Muslim, came together with Iranian and Deccani masters at Mughal workshops to create a new cosmopolitan style of painting that mirrored the cosmopolitan ethos of its rulers.
