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The
miniatures, as the name indicates were small works, which were
made on perishable material & hence no definite proof of
their birth & development can be traced.
Turks
and the Afghans under Babar in 1526 descendant of Tamerlane and
Genghis Khan built up the Mogul empire which survived till 1837.
They ruled from horse back what they had conquered from horse
back. Till may 1529 the rule
of Babar extended from the river Oxus to Bengal and from the
Northern Deccan
to the Himalayas. The great Mogul was a Turk by nationality, a
Moslem by
religion, a Persian by culture and nomad from heart. Babur was
succeeded by
Humayun and the greatest of the Moghul emperor Akber.
 Moghul art
and
Architecture reached its height under Akber's son Jahangir and
later under
his grand son Shah Jahan. They left a legacy of magnificent
mosques,
palaces, forts and gardens embellished with luxurious but
delicate
decorations. The Taj Mahal, a masterpiece of Moghul architecture
is rightly
regarded as one of the most well known wonder of the world.
The Mughal emperors introduced
their own style of miniature paintings
with Persian inspiration. Court scenes were depicted in
grandeur. The
background was usually hilly landscapes. Flowers & animals
were also vastly
depicted & in these the Indian artists applied their own
skill to develop on
the Persian ideas.
Mughal paintings were a unique blend of Indian, Persian and
Islamic styles
that flourished in India during the reign of the Mughal emperors
from the
16th to 18th centuries. It was exclusively a court art and its
developments
depended to a large extent on the patron and his enthusiasm.
Traditional
Persian themes - battles, court scenes, receptions and legendary
stories
were richly captured with infinite detail by a team of artists.
Mughal painting began during the reign of emperor Humayun
(1530-40).
Returning from exile, Humayun brought with him two Persian
artists to India, Mir-Sayyid Ali and Abd-us-samad. The earliest work that comes
under the
category of Mughal painting is "The princess of the
House
of Timur". A
painting that has been repainted throughout the Mughal era at
the command of
various emperors.
The greatest of the Mughal emperors, Akbar (1556-1605), ruled
over a vast
Indian empire and was its greatest patron of arts. He encouraged
poets,
scholars, and painters, making his court a centre of culture.
During his
reign, about a hundred artists worked under the guidance of the
two Persian
artists. Akbar had a childlike love for tales and this is
reflected in what
he commissioned his artists to paint. The Mahabaratha, Ramayana
and other
Persian epics were illustrated. Mughal paintings were lively and
realistic
and showed increasing naturalism with illustrated animal fables,
detailed
landscape backgrounds and elements of individual portraiture.
The emperor Jahangir (1605-27) showed a strong patronage for
paintings.
During his reign, Mughal art became more refined with finer
brushwork and
lighter colours. He favoured paintings of events from his own
life, and
encouraged portraits and studies of birds, flowers and animals.
The elegance and richness of the Jahangir period style continued
during the
reign of Shah Jahan (1628-58) but with an increasing tendency to
become cold
and rigid. Genre scenes - such as musical parties, lovers on a
terrace, or
ascetics gathered around a fire - became frequent, and the trend
continued
in the reign of Aurangzeb (1658-1707).
Despite a brief revival
during the
reign of Muhammad Shah (1719-48), Mughal painting continued to
decline, and
the creative activity ceased during the reign of Shah Alam II
(1759-1806).
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