Royal Umbrellas of Stone: Memory, Politics, and Public Identity in Rajput Funerary Art

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In Royal Umbrellas of Stone: Memory, Politics, and Public Identity in Rajput Funerary Art, Melia Belli Bose provides the first analysis of Rajput chatr s ("umbrellas"; cenotaphs) built between the sixteenth to early-twentieth centuries. New kings constructed chatr s for their late fathers as statements of legitimacy. During periods of political upheaval patrons introduced new forms and decorations to respond to current events and evoke a particular past. Offering detailed analyses of individual cenotaphs and engaging with art historical and epigraphic evidence, as well as ethnography and ritual, this book locates the chatr s within their original social, political, and religious milieux. It also compares the chatr s to other Rajput arts to understand how arts of different media targeted specific audiences." Contents Acknowledgments A Note on Transliteration Chronological Chart of Rajput and Other Dynasties List of Illustrations Introduction: Rajputs and Their Royal Umbrellas Sources and Structure of the Book Rituals: The Chatrī as Politically Charged Performative Space The Commemorated: Public Ancestors and the Deified Deceased Origins of the Chatrī The King is Dead, Long Live the King! “Invented Tradition” and Memorialization in North Indian Kingship An Indic Iconography of Extraordinariness: Umbrellas in South Asian Art Chapter 1 Interrupted Continuities: The Chatrīs of the Kachhwaha Rajputs of Amber and Jaipur Building a Kachhawaha Paradigm: Rājā Man Singh Sibling Rivalry and Contested Authority: Mahārājā Sawai Jai Singh II’s Chatrī in Jaipur The Temple-Chatrī of Ishwari Singh, the Suicide King A Triumphal Homecoming: The Frieze Program on Maharaja Sawai Madho Singh II’s Chatrī Anonymous Memorialization: The Chatrīs of the Kachhwaha Queens Conclusion Chapter 2 Keeping Up with the Kachhwahas: The Chatrīs of the Narukas of Alwar, the Dadu Panthis, and the Shekhawati Merchants The Chatrīs of the Narukas of Alwar The Chatrī as a Legitimizer of Sacred Authority: Memorializing the Dadu Panthis Shardul Singh and the Pāñch Pannā System in Jhunjhunu, Shekhawati Memorializing the Nouveaux Riches: Baniya Chatrīs in Shekhawati Conclusion Chapter 3 A Deceptive Message of Resistance: Nostalgia and the Early Jodha Rathores’ Renaissant Devals The Pratihara Paradigm Rājā Udai Singh’s “Two Hats”: Politics and Memorialization at Mandore The Mandore Devals and Marwari Public Pitrs Parallels in Seventeenth-Century Marwari Painting Conclusion Chapter 4 Shifting Allegiances, Shifting Styles: Later Jodha Rathore Memorials Mahārājā Ajit Singh, the Sisodia Past, and the Maru-Gurjara-Renaissant-Style Devals at Mandore Same Message, Different Media: Ajit Singh’s Other Commissions Mixed Messages: Art and Politics under Mahārājā Abhai Singh Man Singh, the Naths, and the Mahārājā’s Thaṛa Jaswant Thara: The “Taj of Jodhpur” and the Memorialized Jodha Rathores under the Raj Conclusion Chapter 5 Devi Kund Sagar: The Iconography of Satī and Its Absence in Bikaner’s Chatrīs The Mughal Model Gendered Paradigms in Bika Rathore Funerary Art The Iconography of Eternal Union Lakshminath’s Divine Darbār Monuments, Memorials, and the Politics of Restoration under Mahārājā Ganga Singh Conclusion Chapter 6 Eklingji’s Divine Darbār: The Sisodia Chatrīs of Mewar The Art of Propaganda: The Sisodias’ Invented Tradition of Resistance Eklingji and Sisodia Political Legitimacy Eklingji’s Eternal Dīvāns at Mahasatiya Conclusion Chapter 7 Conclusion: Beyond Rajasthan Memorializing Marathas in Their New Capitals Claiming Sikh Space in Lahore: Mahārājā Ranjit Singh’s Samādhi The Living Chatrī Tradition Glossary Bibliography Index