A History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day c20.s1.50

c20.s1.50

When Bernier was writing to Colbert in 1669, early in the reign of Aurangzēb, who had the Puritan dislike for art, the position of artists had become much less favourable than that enjoyed by them in the days of Akbar, Jahāngīr, and Shahjahān. The observant French physician, a thoroughly trustworthy witness, described as follows the relations between artists and their patrons, or rather taskmasters, as seen by him:—