Indian Painting under the Mughals, A.D. 1550 to A.D. 1750 c20.34.2

c20.34.2

Babur’s portrait appears to be an excellent one, and shows his complexion tanned by exposure, and a quizzical smile on his face as he listens to a remark being made by ‘Umar Shaikh. It is a great misfortune that Humayun’s figure just below is so abraded, as an early portrait of this emperor is much to be desired. There are many representations of him, most of them of late date, but no good ones, although it may be noted that in nearly all he is depicted in a peculiar attitude with inclined head and body leaning forward, suggesting that in some way the artist was trying to express as faithfully as he could his somewhat invertebrate character. But it is to the portrait of Akbar that we turn with the greatest interest. Compared with his predecessors in the picture the whole appearance of the Mughal emperor is different. Gone is the rakish high-peaked cap, the *kulāh* of the Turkoman, and in its place is the closely bound turban, or *chīrā* of the Indian Rājput. Gone is the free-grown beard of the orthodox Musalman, and in its place is the shaven chin with the side-whisker, or *galmuchh*, of the Muttra Hindu. In dress and in feature Akbar bears little resemblance to any of his ancestors, either Timurid or Mughal; for, as far as external effect goes, he has actually become ‘an Indian of the Indians’.