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By Paul Dunwell, writing for EasyFrame
© Copyright EasyFrame 2021
'Shah-Jahan receives his three eldest sons and Asaf Khan during his accession ceremonies on 8th March 1628' is a 30.6 x 21.3 cm illustration on a 58.4 x 37.0 cm page of the 'Padshahnama', or 'Book of Emperors'. The book was commissioned by the Mughal emperor Shah-Jahan to celebrate his reign over much of what is now the Indian subcontinent. The manuscript is dated 1656 to 1657 and is held in the Royal Library at Windsor Castle. The painting is by Bichitr.
We'll examine the illustration, drawing on what the Royal Collection Trust tells us about it, and set it in the broader context of when and why it was made.
Not much is known about Bichitr. We have only a 'floruit' date, the Latin term for when someone is known to have been active. We don't know when he was born or when he died. He was painting work of note by about 1615, perhaps while still young, and may still have been active around 1660.
The manuscript was completed almost 30 years after the accession it shows. So we can take the picture to be a stylised reconstruction rather than an eyewitness record. Its purpose was political: to remind its audience of the majesty of the dynasty in power.
Bichitr was a court painter to two emperors: Jahangir (born Salim, whose chosen name means 'Seizer of the World') and his son Shah-Jahan. Because he painted himself into one of his works for Jahangir, we know what he looked like. His name suggests he was Hindu, which says something for the tolerance of a Muslim court.
The Mughal Empire (also spelled Mogul or Moghul) was founded in 1526 by Babur, a prince from the Fergana Valley in what is now Uzbekistan, who claimed descent from both Timur and Genghis Khan. The name 'Mughal' itself comes from 'Mongol'. The empire lasted, at least in name, until 1857.
Its decline had many causes. The lavish life of the court was paid for by heavy taxes on the land, which fell hardest on poor farmers. From the late 17th century the Marathas, whose own empire lasted from 1674 to 1818, took much of its territory. The British did the rest, and in 1858 the Crown took over from the East India Company.
Shah-Jahan, born Shahab-ud-din Muhammad Khurram, was the fifth Mughal emperor. He reigned from 1628 to 1658, when he fell ill and was deposed by his third son, Aurangzeb. He was then held in the fort at Agra, the setting of this painting, until he died in 1666. Aurangzeb is in the picture.
The manuscript was finished just as Shah-Jahan's time was running out, and it reminded those around him of his achievements. That matters, because his sons were about to turn on each other in a fight for power, just as he himself had come to the throne by having his rivals, a brother and several nephews among them, put to death.
Yet he went on to preside over decades of relative stability, and under him the empire reached its cultural zenith. We know him best for building the Taj Mahal as the tomb of his favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal (also known as Mahd-i-Ulya), who is mentioned in the text that goes with this illustration. When he died, Shah-Jahan was laid to rest beside her.
We don't know who everybody is, but we know some of the players, and most are Shah-Jahan's relatives. Given the constant struggles for power, that would have been no great reassurance. They include:
The text translates as: 'Hearing the good news of the arrival of the princes, Her Majesty Mahd-i-Ulya (Mumtaz Mahal) set out by imperial command...to receive them...The entire day was spent by the parents admiring the beauty of their grandsons. The next day...all the nobles and grandees went out by royal command to greet the princes and escort them and Yaminuddawla (Asaf Khan) to court. When the jharoka (a type of overhanging enclosed balcony) ... was illuminated by the rays of the Emperor's enthronement, the princes and Yaminuddawla (Asaf Khan) were allowed to pay homage'.
The Mughal rulers were Sunni Muslims, but the empire they governed was largely Hindu and the court was never exclusively Islamic. In the 1580s the emperor Akbar, Shah-Jahan's grandfather, promoted a creed of his own, Din-i Ilahi, which drew on several of the religions around him. It was partly an astute attempt to give his many peoples something in common. It attracted few followers and did not outlive him, but it shows how open the court could be, and it helps explain how a painter like Bichitr could rise so high in it.
These were bloody times the world over, and succession was rarely settled peacefully in any kingdom. That is worth bearing in mind before judging Shah-Jahan by today's standards.
We don't know what Bichitr thought of his patron. But Shah-Jahan was plainly a great supporter of the arts, and wealthy enough for his painters and architects to leave work we still admire.
In this illustration Bichitr is credited with a composition of symmetry and balance. The globe refers to the 'world rule' the emperor claimed. The lion and the lamb, side by side, stand for strength and plenty and, together, for peace and harmony (think of the biblical lion lying down with the lamb). The picture is a retrospective, of course. By and large Shah-Jahan's rule did turn out that way.
How good was Bichitr? The Encyclopaedia Britannica speaks of his 'faultless technique and majestic formality'. There is evidence that he had studied European art, and the court was certainly in touch with James I of England, so its ties with Europe may have been more extensive than the surviving records show. Bichitr used perspective, then thought of as a Western technique. He added shadow, and he put cherub-like figures, very Italian, into his work.
Here was an artist, probably Hindu, who is said to have been perhaps the most brilliant of all the court painters of the Mughal Empire. For more on the work see the Open Arts Archive.
You can buy unframed prints of Bichitr's work affordably, for example 'Portrait of Raja Bikramajit' from Truly Art and 'Jahangir Preferring a Sufi Shaikh to Kings' from Heritage Images.
You'll want to frame whatever you buy. Any good framers will show you a range of solutions and advise on what suits the work and where it will hang. EasyFrame is on 01234 856 501 and sales@EasyFrame.co.uk, and they'll always chat even if you don't want to buy!
Article Posted: 03/06/2021 10:39:31