Indian Painting under the Mughals, A.D. 1550 to A.D. 1750 c13.11.3

c13.11.3

One of the Mongol Khans, Hulagu, is said to have imported over a hundred families of Chinese artisans and craftsmen to his court in Persia to carry out his artistic schemes. Settling down in the bazaars of Iran they carried on their trade exactly as they had done for centuries in Pekin, except that they adapted their designs to the requirements of their Mongol overlords. And on occasion, consignments of Chinese art, paintings and porcelain, metal-work and carved wood, would arrive by caravan at the western capitals of the Mongol empire to be applied to the buildings, to decorate the interiors, or to grace the festive entertainments of the ruling Khans. Thus by the fourteenth century Persian art had become a provincialized form the Roman world, and the most important events of the reign of Antoninus Pius, are related by his biographer, and the reader will not be sorry to find them here in a more concise form. The reign of Antoninus Pius is marked by the rare advantage of furnishing very few materials for history; which is only another mode of saying that its happiness was complete. During the twenty-three years of his administration, the Roman empire was governed by the same invariable maxims of justice and peace. The natives of a vast extent of country were protected by the same laws, and enjoyed the same privileges. The frontiers were defended by the same legions, and the same spirit of moderation and equity prevailed in the councils of the emperor.