Enter
the splendid world of Mughal India and explore its rich aesthetic and cultural
legacy through fresh insights offered by 13 eminent scholars. Recent
scholarship in this field has offered deeper analysis into established norms,
explored pan-Indian connections and drawn comparisons with contemporaneous
regions of the early modern world. Further studies along these lines were
encouraged in a seminar held by the K.R. Cama Oriental Institute, Mumbai, and
the formidable scholarship presented by contributors forms the content of this
volume.
The
articles in this book explore varied subjects under the Mughal umbrella,
challenge long-held ideas and draw comparisons between the artistic expressions
and material culture of the powerful Islamicate triumvirate of the early modern
period—the Safavids in Iran, the European-based Ottomans and the Mughals in the
Indian subcontinent.
Themes as diverse as
portraits of royal women, sub-imperial patronage of temples, word-image
relationship, the lapidary arts and the Imperial Library of the Mughals, a
reconsideration of Mughal garden typologies, murals painted on architectural
surfaces, the textile culture of the city of Burhanpur, changes in visual
language and content of painting, and Imperial object d’art have been discussed,
challenged and analyzed. The final three articles are groundbreaking
comparisons across Ottoman, Safavid and Mughal spheres. This beautifully
illustrated book is sure to appeal to connoisseurs, collectors and scholars
alike.