Heritage Walk Karachi
In between squalor and crumbling infrastructure, decades of neglect, apathy, and corrupt administrators, there are remnants of what Karachi once was—phantoms of the sparkling clean, well-organized, cultural, and liberal metropolis. A crossroads for travelers headed to Bombay, a place of style and flair. A city of cabarets, musicals, and cinema. Of intellectuals, artists, traders, and […]
Sultana Chand Bibi of Bijapur
One of India’s bold and brave rulers, Sultana Chand Bibi (1550–1599 CE). Chand Bibi acted as the Regent of Bijapur Sultanate during the minority of Ibrahim Adil Shah II in 1580-1590, and regent of Ahmednagar Sultanate during the minority of her great nephew Bahadur Shah in 1595-1600. Chand Bibi is best known for defending Ahmednagar […]
Hyderabad Deccan circa 1750
What better way to spend the morning this long weekend–a few minutes out to study and share this work which I have done before but keep returning to it. This elegant painting depicts an interior scene of a palace with a group of three European ladies seated on chairs while a fourth lady, perhaps their […]
Silversmiths from Kutch
Silversmiths from Kutch produced extraordinary works in the metal. Originally Mughal shield-makers who worked in hide and other materials, they quickly transformed their trade into silversmithing as the need for Mughal battle accessories stopped. They excelled at their new trade. The foremost silversmith from the region was a man called Oomersee Mawji Bhuj who produced […]
A visit to the British Library
A visit to the British Library to see their show on Animals. On display is a range of excellent artworks related to wildlife depicted through European paintings, books and prints to Indian company school works. In my view, a single Mughal miniature painting steals the show, and the usual words of amazement and ecstatic beauty […]
Sufi Depiction in Deccani Paintings
Bijapur, Deccan early 17th century. These paintings are actually Sufi in their depiction. The starving horse is a symbol of the dying ego and the crows pecking at the wounds, a total submission to the Divine will. A handful of such paintings exist in various public and private collections. Among the Sufis, stallions are thought […]
Mughal Fascination with Holy Men
This picture of an ascetic painted circa 1750 in Mughal India is an example of this engagement. The setting, the simple accessories, and the contemplative atmosphere are common to ascetics’ depictions of the time, in which their modest lifestyle and humble behavior were emphasized.
Jahangir’s Mausoleum
It is during the era of Emperor Jahangir that Mughal art, prose, and illumination reached their zenith. This 17th-century monarch was enamored especially by the flora and fauna of his kingdom and has captured its variety in a series of riveting manuscripts contained (now) in the dispersed leaves of the tuzk-e-Jahangiri and Jahangirnama. I had […]
About Picasso
Most of us perceive Picasso’s work through his cubist lens and much of his African-inspired art has taken center stage. Take a look below at the broader, earlier pallet of the most influential artist of the 20th century, some of the works he completed when he was not even 15 years old! These are housed […]
The Siah Qalam Technique
The Siah Qalam is a traditional technique in Mughal painting where the work is rendered in watered-down black ink, originally using a brush made of the tip of a squirrel’s tail. Some paintings were only done in Siah Qalam and not necessarily using any other pigments. I find the monochrome nature of such works appealing. […]