Indian Painting under the Mughals, A.D. 1550 to A.D. 1750 c22.48

c22.48

*taswīr*, is a narrow band contained between black and white ruled lines. The lines were called by some *jadval* and by others *khat*, while the narrow band which was usually decorated with a running pattern of flowers and leaves was known as *bail*. If, however, the band was ornamented with detached flowers repeated at intervals, it went by the name of *phulkārī*, or flower pattern. The remaining portion of the mount, or *hāshiya*, was embellished by means of a variety of designs each of which has its special character and name. One of the simplest and most effective was a process of fine powdering with gold called *ghubāra*; when the gold was more coarsely distributed it was referred to as *shafaq*. Such patterns were obtained in two ways, either by ‘spluttering’ on the gold paint while wet from the bristles of a stiff brush, or by coating the surface of the mount with a wash of rice-water, and then powdering the gold on from a pouncing bag. A pattern which consisted of larger patches of gold sprinkled irregularly over the ground was known as *tīkā* from the name of the caste mark seen on the foreheads of most Hindus. The foregoing are the simpler methods of decorating the *hāshiya*, but a more elaborate scheme is the *tarah*, a device of ornamented scrolls like arabesques painted in flat brush forms of gold, as shown in the border of the picture on Plate XXI. But the most highly embellished mount of all was that which first made its appearance in the reign of Jahangir, afterwards to become a common feature in the miniatures executed under Shah Jahan. This is the *jhār*, a combination of floral forms of which the border shown in Plate LIII is a notable example.