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II. Pahari miniature painting: a brief history The tradition of Indian miniature paintings can be traced back a long way, although only a few examples of this art have been preserved from ancient times [6]. The miniature paintings were evidently used as illustrations for religious books, but this art must have also touched other aspects of life, including the beauty and joy of the transient world. Even in those ancient examples of Indian religious art, sensuous beauty mingles with spirituality, thus asserting the inseparability of form from spirit, the understanding of which precedes the ultimate stage of spiritual liberation. A new trend, which was to have far-reaching effects on the technique and character of Indian painting , began to flow into Buddhist and Hindu India in the 13th century, with the impact of the cultural tradition of the Islamic Middle East, especially from Persia. Persian painters were invited to work at the Muslim courts in India, new techniques and new themes were then introduced, and a successful synthesis of cultural and artistic elements emerged. The art of miniature painting in India, using the new mediums and techniques, was further enriched by imported themes and visions, to reach an unprecedented standard of refinement under the patronage of the art-loving emperors of the Mughal dynasty during the 16th - 18th centuries. From the imperial court, the new artistic mode spread to every corner of the Mughal empire , where feudal rulers and governors began to vie with one another in setting up their own workshop. The courts of the Hindu Rajputs, rulers of Rajasthan and the Punjab hills, became important working terrain, and subsequently became the asylum to the Mughal-trained artists who had to flee from the imperial capital due to the drastic reinforcement of Muslim orthodoxy in the second half of the 17th century, and again at the fatal Persian invasions of 1739. Various schools of miniature paintings then began to flourish in the Rajput states of the Western Himalayan foothills [7] . Basohli and Chamba became important centres by the middle of the 17th century [8] , but this art reached its highest peak of splendour under the patronage of the powerful Raja Sansar Chand of Kangra (1775-1823) [9] , whose political power and artistic taste dominated a large region of the Western Himalayas. A rapid decline set in after the reign of Sansar Chand, but some of its former glory lingered on throughout the new era of Sikh supremacy and through the British rule. | |
