Indian Painting under the Mughals, A.D. 1550 to A.D. 1750 c3: Preface
Indian Painting under the Mughals, A.D. 1550 to A.D. 1750 c3
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Preface
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IN the course of compiling this work I have received considerable help from various sources, which it is my pleasant duty to acknowledge. To those who have already contributed to our information on the subject of Indian miniature painting by means of books or articles my sincere thanks are here rendered; especially am I under obligation to the writings of the following: Dr. F. R. Martin, who in his monumental work on the *Miniature Painting of Persia, India and Turkey* has covered the whole field of research; Mr. E. B. Havell, the pioneer of the present Indian art movement, whose books have enabled us to view it through his own sympathetic eyes; Dr. Coomaraswamy, whose publications on the subject have been welcomed by all students, and one of whose achievements has been the classification of Indian miniatures into the two schools of Rājput and Mughal; Sir Thomas Arnold, whose investigations into Persian and Indian painting, aided by his unique knowledge of the contemporary literature, have thrown fresh light on its historical aspect; Dr. Laurence Binyon, who has described Far Eastern and Indian painting in such terms that it is possible for the student to realize their relative positions in the sphere of Asiatic art; M. Blochet, whose exhaustive catalogues of Persian miniatures, and whose scholarly articles on the graphic art of the Near and Middle East, have added largely to our information; Sir John Marshall, Kt., C.I.E., Director-General of the Archaeological Survey of India, and his staff of assistants, the results of whose labours are embodied in reports of inestimable value; and finally the late Mr. Vincent Smith, whose *History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon* has provided the student of oriental art with an orderly sequence of periods on which to base his investigations; the last named also placed at my disposal some hitherto unpublished historical notes. To these, my predecessors in the field of Indian art research, I tender my full acknowledgements.
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The task of assembling the illustrative material gathered from a number of widely distributed sources has been considerably lightened by assistance, willingly rendered. For help in obtaining examples from the collections in Paris I have to thank H.E. Lord Hardinge of Penshurst, and also my friend M. Demotte, the distinguished art connoisseur, collector, and publisher of the Champs Élysées; the latter interested himself indefatigably in my requirements, and through his instrumentality some of the finest illustrations in this work were secured. From the art treasures of Baron Maurice Rothschild, M. Vever, and M. Cartier, I was allowed to take my own choice of reproductions, and for this privilege I here express my sincere gratitude. In England the same desire to aid me in my work prevailed. The authorities controlling the various public institutions gave me every facility for studying their collections, together with sanction to reproduce any pictures that I required. The British Museum represented by Dr. Binyon, the Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington, through Mr. Stanley Clarke, the India Office Library by the courtesy of Dr. Thomas, and the Bodleian through its Chief Librarian, all rendered assistance. To Mr. Dyson Perrins I owe much, as his kindness enabled me to study under the most favourable conditions his series of illustrated manuscripts, and he also obtained for me the photographs of some of the miniatures in his very fine copy of the Khamsah. The support I have received in India has been accorded on equally generous terms. H.E. Lord Ronaldshay, the Governor of Bengal, permitted me to make a selection from his collection, while H.E. Sir Harcourt Butler, the Governor of the United Provinces, and H.E. Sir Edward Maclagan, the Governor of the Punjab, on occasion gave me their help. To H.H. the Nawab of Rampur my thanks are due for many illustrations, and especially for the loan of two of his most valuable miniatures, which, without hesitation, he arranged to be dispatched to England for reproduction in colour. The Trustees of the Indian Museum, Calcutta, allowed me to utilize for the same purpose a number of pictures from the Art Section of that institution, while the Curator of the Jaipur Museum supplied me with some useful photographs of the Razmnāma. Mr. J. C. French, of the Indian Civil Service, not only placed his pictures at my service, but also the benefit of his close acquaintance with many of the collections in India and in Europe. My thanks are due to the following for being permitted to refer to their collections in the course of my investigations: Mr. P. C. Manuk of Bankipur, M. Claude Anet of Paris, Major Macaulay, Mr. Abanindra Nath Tagore, C.I.E., and Mr. Gogendra Nath Tagore of Calcutta, Mr. Imre Schwaiger, Mr. Mani Lal Nahar of Calcutta, and M. Vignier of Paris. For assistance in the technical portions I have relied on the traditional knowledge of Babu Ishwari Prosada, while the late Lt.-Col. Sir
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Adelbert Talbot, K.C.I.E., and Shams-ul-Ulama M. Hidayet Hosain have advised me on some of the inscriptions and on the identification of several of the subjects. Messrs. Macbeth of Fleet Street have been helpful in taking photographs of pictures in the London collections and in according me permission to reproduce from these. Lastly, I desire to record the heavy debt I owe to my friend Dr. T. O. D. Dunn, of the Indian Educational Service, for undertaking the thankless task of revising the manuscript, and for much help freely given at all times during the progress of the work.
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Against advice, and in spite of the fact that it has been described as an inartistic proceeding, I have included among the illustrations portions of some of the pictures reproduced to a size larger than the originals. My reasons for so doing are that in this way they may be an additional means of enabling the art student to realize with more certainty the manner in which some of these paintings were produced. The original pictures are all miniatures, that is, paintings executed to the smallest possible size for the spectator to view with comfort. Further it is no exaggeration to say that they can only be seen with advantage in the same strong light in which they were painted—the brilliant sun of India. In the course of reproduction, it has been necessary to make almost all of them smaller than the originals in order to conform to the size of the printed page, in a word they are reduced miniatures. It is in an endeavour to correct these various disadvantages that I have allowed a few to appear slightly over the original size. That they have been enlarged without the least loss of effect has supported me in my decision.