Indian Painting under the Mughals, A.D. 1550 to A.D. 1750 c15.20

Language: English

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The young emperor was not only interested in the painting of his own artists, but his aesthetic activities were manifested in another direction, one which reacted almost immediately, and with a beneficial effect, on the productions of the rising school. He was a connoisseur and a keen collector of historical paintings. On no occasion, therefore, was an opportunity lost of acquiring illuminated manuscripts and rare old miniatures from those regions where these classical articles had been originally executed. He dispatched agents to negotiate for them, and embassies were instructed to include them among the treasures they brought back from the courts of other kings. When these missions returned, and presented themselves at the hall of audience, before any other business was begun, the emperor in his eagerness would first examine all ‘the beautiful and costly things’ that they had brought, and specially dilate on the pictures or manuscripts, expressing his gratitude for that ‘destiny which gave such rare things into his hands’. Descriptions of a few of these objects of art have been preserved, and although meagre in their details, they are sufficient to give some idea of the royal connoisseur’s taste, and the artistic quality of these articles generally. There were four miniatures of the School of Bihzad, dated A. D. 1499, which Jahangir is recorded to have valued at fifteen hundred rupees.

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The works of this great artist were apparently difficult to obtain even in those days, and the Mughal emperor had to be content with paintings by his pupils, although none of these was so skilful as the old master himself. On another occasion a copy of *Yusuf and Zulaikha*, the oldest poetical treatment of the Biblical story of Joseph, came into his hands ‘in the handwriting of Mulla Mir Ali with illustrations and in a beautiful gilt binding, worth 1,000 muhrs’. The Mulla was a famous calligrapher, and, as it was the custom for the illustrations in these manuscripts to be of the same high standard as the writing, this would be a very valuable acquisition. But the gem of Jahangir’s collection was a signed picture by Khalil Mirza, a Timurid artist whose handiwork was at that time nearly two hundred years old. The manner in which this precious relic was obtained is told in the emperor’s own words, and shows that there was as much luck, romance, and also sordidness in these transactions in the past as there is in similar ‘deals’ of the present day. It appears to have been originally in the royal library of one of the Safavid kings of Persia, but ‘a person of the name of Sadiqi, a librarian of his, had stolen it, and sold it to some one.

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By chance it fell into the hands of Khan ‘Alam of Isfahan.’ This man was either a collector or a dealer, and it seems that Shah ‘Abbas, the reigning emperor of Persia, and himself an enthusiastic connoisseur, ‘heard that he had found such a rare prize, and asked it of him on the pretence of looking at it. Khan ‘Alam tried to evade this by artful stratagems, but when he repeatedly insisted on it, he sent it to him. The Shah recognized it immediately he saw it. He kept it by him for a day, but at last, as he knew how great was our (Jahangir’s) liking for such rarities, he—God be praised—... told the facts of the case (about its being stolen) to Khan ‘Alam’—which was all the dealer got for his pains—and made the picture over to the Mughal emperor’s representative, who was at the Persian capital and happened to be negotiating for its purchase at that particular time. When this ‘old master’, after its adventures, was finally presented to Jahangir, he soliloquizes over it with the intimate knowledge of an expert. ‘The work was very complete and grand, and resembled greatly the paint-brush of Ustad Bihzad. If the name of the painter had not been written, the work would have been believed to be his.

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As it was executed before Bihzad’s date it is probable that the latter was one of Khalil Mirza’s pupils, and had adopted his style.’ This statement indicates more than an ordinary interest in the painting of the past—on this occasion, and on others, the names of the great Persian artists roll off his tongue with a fluency begotten of experience, and he praises their skill, or compares their styles, with the assurance of a finished student of the art of painting.