The Mughal Empire

The Mughal emperors, descended from Central Asian conquerors, ruled much of South Asia from 1526 until 1857. They brought Persian traditions of the illustrated book and garden design and joined them with Indian craft traditions (see Temples of South and Southeast Asia). The great patrons were Akbar (ruled 1556 to 1605), Jahangir (1605 to 1627) and Shah Jahan (1628 to 1658).

Akbar set up imperial workshops where Persian and Indian painters worked together on huge illustrated books. Jahangir loved close observation: portraits, birds, animals and flowers. Painters worked in opaque watercolor and gold on paper, with fine brushes, some said to be made of a single hair.

Looking closely: Shah Jahan on Horseback

Describe. The emperor Shah Jahan rides a stallion in profile across a green ground, holding a spear, a golden halo behind his head. A wide border of painted flowers frames the page. Analyze. Horse and rider are drawn in crisp outline and placed against a plain, pale background, so every detail of jewels, harness and textile stands out. The profile view was standard for imperial portraits: it shows a clear, dignified likeness. Interpret. The halo, borrowed from European religious pictures that came to the court, marks the emperor's semi-divine status. The page was made for an album of portraits and calligraphy.

The Taj Mahal

Shah Jahan's wife Mumtaz Mahal died in 1631. The next year he began a tomb for her on the bank of the Yamuna River at Agra. The white marble mausoleum stands on a raised platform with four minarets at its corners, under a great onion-shaped dome. It stands at the end of a four-part garden (charbagh), divided by water channels, an image of paradise in Persian and Islamic tradition. The marble is inlaid with colored stones in floral designs and with verses of the Qur'an in black stone. The chief architect is usually named as Ustad Ahmad Lahauri, though the records are not complete. Shah Jahan himself was later buried beside her.