Indian Painting under the Mughals, A.D. 1550 to A.D. 1750 c19.57

c19.57

Mansur, or one of his leading pupils, was no doubt the painter of the cheer pheasant (*Catreus wallichi*) on Plate LIV, and also of the peafowl on Plate XXIII, both of which are exceptionally well drawn. The ducks on Plate LV are probably a little later than his time, and so is the night-heron on the same plate, while the picture of the flowers on Plate XXII is not likely to be an original but a later copy of one of those done by this painter in Kashmir. Trees were not often depicted by themselves, but the plane tree, or *chinar* (*Platanus orientalis*), on Plate XV is a remarkable exception. Nothing is known of this work of art, which is probably one of the most charming examples of the school, with its sleek brown squirrels disporting themselves among the red-tipped leaves against a background of old gold. The animal drawings on Plate XXII are an interesting record of one of Jahangir’s zoological experiments. He took the opportunity of breeding some kids from markhor goats and Barbary ewes, and of these he gives a careful description. The young animals appear to have afforded him considerable amusement, as he remarks ‘ of their liveliness and laughable ways and their manner of gamboling and leaping, what can be written ? ’ adding that ‘ it is notorious that painters cannot draw properly the motions of a kid.’¹ Granting that they may chance to draw the movements of an ordinary kid after a fashion, they certainly would have to acknowledge themselves at a loss how to draw the motions of these kids.’² In spite, however, of the emperor’s doubts as to the ability of his artists to depict these animals in action, one of them at least made the attempt, as the sketches on Plate XXII demonstrate. Spirited movement, however, although successfully attained in some pictures, was not always a feature of the Mughal drawing, quiet repose being more often to the artist’s liking, as shown in the painting of the elephants on Plate XLV, Fig. 2. But that the artist thoroughly understood the actions of the latter quadruped is certainly proved by Plate LVI, which depicts an elephant completely out of hand, having wrested the goad from the hands of his mahout, and prepared for further mischief. According to an inscription on the picture which states that it is the work of Ghulam Ali, the animal was eventually restrained by the bravery of the individual on his back, who is Prince Muhammad Murad.