- The origin of the Mughal School of Painting is considered to be a landmark in the history of painting in India.
- With the establishment of the Mughal empire, the Mughal School of painting originated in the reign of Akbar in 1560 CE who was keenly interested in the art of painting and architecture.
- In the beginning of his rule a studio of paintingwas established under the supervision of two Persian masters, Mir Sayyed Ali and Abdul Samad Khan, who were originally employed by his father Humayun.
- A large number of Indian artists from all over India were recruited to work under the Persian masters.
- The Mughal style evolved as a result of a happy synthesis of the indigenous Indian style of painting and the Safavid school of Persian painting.
- It is marked by supple naturalism based on close observation of nature and fine and delicate drawing and is primarily aristocratic and secular.
- An illustrated manuscript of theTuti-nama in the Cleveland Museum of Art (USA) appears to be the first work of the Mughal School.
- The style of painting in this manuscript shows the Mughal style in its formative stage. Shortly after that, between 1564-69 CE was completed a very ambitious project in the form of Hamza-namaillustrations on cloth, originally consisting of 1400 leaves in seventeen volumes.
Figure: A Hamza – nama illustration
- Some of the famous painters in Akbar’s court other than the two Persian masters already mentioned are Dasvanth, Miskina, Nanha, Kanha, Basawan, Manohar, Doulat, Mansur, Kesu, Bhim Gujarati, etc.
- Jahangir had great fascination for natureand took delight in the portraiture of birds, animals and flowers.
- Some important manuscripts illustrated during his period are, an animal fable book called Ayar-i-Danish, the Anwar-i-sunavli, another fable book.
- The famous painters of Jahangir are Aqa Riza, Abul Hasan, Mansur, Bishan Das, Manohar, Goverdhan, Balchand, Daulat, Mukhlis, Bhim and Inayat.
- The portrait of Jahangir illustrated is a typical example of miniature executed during the period of Jahangir.
Figure: The Portrait of Jahangir
- A series of the Razm-namadated 1616 CE, a series of the Rasikapriya(1610-1615) and a series of the Ramayana of circa 1610 CE are some other notable examples of the Mughal School.
- Apart from portraiture, other paintings showing groups of ascetics and mystics and a number of illustrated manuscriptswere also executed during his period; some noteworthy examples of such manuscripts are the Gulistanand the Bustan of Sadi, copied for the emperor in the first and second years of his reign and the Shah Jahan Nama
- Aurangzeb was a puritan and painting declined during his period and lost much of its earlier quality. A large number of court painters migrated to the provincial courts.
- During the period of Bahadur Shah, there was a revival of the Mughal painting after the neglect shown by Aurangzeb.
- After 1712 CE, the Mughal painting again started deteriorating under the later Mughals.