Indian Painting under the Mughals, A.D. 1550 to A.D. 1750 c13.11.1

c13.11.1

Such was the general character of the Arab illustrated manuscripts of the thirteenth century, a striking attempt at a revival of pictorial art evincing in their intention a naïve sincerity which promised much. But whether these early attempts would have developed on natural lines into a definite school will never be known, for in 1258 Baghdad, and the culture that it represented, was destroyed, and the progress of art in Persia received another check. The force that swept away the Arab régime on the Tigris came this time from the East, and was a political convulsion which changed the whole aspect of civilization in the Orient. This was the invasion of the Mongols. The course of the Central Asian hordes, gathering momentum as they swept across the continent, was, in its first phase, like that of the Arabs, one of the most appalling destruction. In their primitive state these barbarians had little use for the refinements of any form of civilized life, and resented them in others. Fortunately after a time this stage passed away, and, as they became less nomadic, their spirit craved for something of a more permanent nature than the tented city of their earlier days. Having no artistic attainments of their own, they were compelled to go to those whom they had conquered for the embellishment of their courts, and all the arts of peace. The first country to feel the Mongol influence, when these tribes broke away from their pasturage on the Central Asian steppes, was China.