Portraiture in South Asia since the Mughals: Art, Representation and History

Description

One of the most remarkable artistic achievements of the Mughal Empire was the emergence in the early seventeenth century of portraits of identifiable individuals, unprecedented in both South Asia and the Islamic world. Appearing at a time of increasing contact between Europe and Asia, portraits from the reigns of the great Mughal emperor-patrons Akbar, Jahangir and Shah Jahan are among the best-known paintings produced in South Asia. In the following centuries portraiture became more widespread in the visual culture of South Asia, especially in the rich and varied traditions of painting, but also in sculpture and later prints and photography. This collection seeks to understand the intended purpose of a range of portrait traditions in South Asia and how their style, setting and representation may have advanced a range of aesthetic, social and political functions. The chapters range across a wide historical period, exploring ideals of portraiture in Sanskrit and Persian literature, the emergence and political symbolism of Mughal portraiture, through to the paintings of the Rajput courts, sculpture in Tamil temples and the transformation of portraiture in colonial north India and post-independence Pakistan. This specially commissioned collection of studies from a strong list of established scholars and rising stars makes a significant contribution to South Asian history, art and visual culture. Contents List of Illustrations Acknowledgements Note on Transliteration and Conventions List of Contributors Introduction: Portraiture in South Asia • Crispin Branfoot 1. Portrait or Image? Some Literary and Terminological Perspectives on Portraiture in Early India • Vincent Lefèvre 2. Tracing the Rise of Mughal Portraiture: The Kabul Corpus,c. 1545–55 • Laura E. Parodi 3. Jahangir as Publius Scipio Maior: The Commensurability of Mughal Political Portraiture • Ebba Koch 4. Portraits in the Mirror: Living Images in Nāṣir ‘Alī Sirhindīand Mīrzā ‘Abd al-Qādir Bīdil • Stefano Pello 5. Becoming the Hero: Metamorphosis of the Raja • Catherine Glynn 6. The Prevalence of Portraiture in the Development of the Devgarh Style • Ainsley M. Cameron 7. Heroic Rulers and Devoted Servants: Performing Kingship in the Tamil Temple • Crispin Branfoot 8. Village Portraits in William Fraser’s Portfolio of Native Drawings • Yuthika Sharma 9. The Role of Portraiture in Pakistani Contemporary Miniature Painting: The ‘Mughal Connection’ • Virginia Whiles Bibliography Index Color Plates