Splendors of
Rajasthani Paintings: Gulistan of
Alwar School
By-
Neeru Misra
Several
illustrious poets, littérateurs, mystics, thinkers and social reformers
flourished in the thirteenth-century India and Persia. Ferishta, Jalaluddin
Rumi, Amar Khusrau and Sheikh
Sa‘adi are some of the great contemporaneous names Gulistan or Garden of Roses, is the most popular composition of Sa‘adi, and has been translated in several languages.
Sa‘adi are some of the great contemporaneous names Gulistan or Garden of Roses, is the most popular composition of Sa‘adi, and has been translated in several languages.
Gulistan is not a book of morals alone. It has
been considered a treatise on good governance by padshahs and emperors. Regarded as elite reading, it was
customary for the diplomats and traders travelling from Persia to Indian courts
and vice versa, to present a copy of the manuscript to the high ranking nobles
and kings as a mark of respect and recognition of their learning. As a
consequence, a number of illustrated manuscripts of popular Persian anthologies
were prepared under royal patronage. Many such works have survived and are
available to us as a testimony to the art of calligraphy, book binding,
illumination, illustration and miniature painting of the yesteryears.
With
the decline of the Mughal empire, the artistic traditions of its ateliers found
new
patronage under the regional principalities. The kingdom of Alwar in the nineteenth century under Banni Singh, while adopting the imperial Mughal traditions, established its own atelier where the present manuscript was created. The work is a rare confluence of the art of book and miniature painting, reproducing the celebrated Gulistan of Sa‘adi almost six hundred years after its original composition. The rich illustrations created in the Rajasthan court are a salutation to the magnificent Persian and Mughal miniature painting traditions.
patronage under the regional principalities. The kingdom of Alwar in the nineteenth century under Banni Singh, while adopting the imperial Mughal traditions, established its own atelier where the present manuscript was created. The work is a rare confluence of the art of book and miniature painting, reproducing the celebrated Gulistan of Sa‘adi almost six hundred years after its original composition. The rich illustrations created in the Rajasthan court are a salutation to the magnificent Persian and Mughal miniature painting traditions.
Neeru
Misra,
heritologist and art historian holds a Masters and Doctorate in History from
Allahabad University; has been the Head of the Department of Museum Studies at
the
National Museum Institute, Delhi.
National Museum Institute, Delhi.
She
has been associated with the academic programmes of the Smithsonian institution’s,
University of Madison and Thammasat University, Bangkok. Widely travelled, she is a
visiting faculty to a number of universities. She has been a Consultant with the United Nations Development Programme and is presently Senior Programme Director with the Indian Council for Cultural Relations under the Ministry of External Affairs.
University of Madison and Thammasat University, Bangkok. Widely travelled, she is a
visiting faculty to a number of universities. She has been a Consultant with the United Nations Development Programme and is presently Senior Programme Director with the Indian Council for Cultural Relations under the Ministry of External Affairs.
ISBN 978-81-7304-788-6 2008 184p.
Rs.1750/ pounds 50
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MANOHAR PUBLISHERS & DISTRIBUTORS
4753/23 Ansari Road, Daryaganj, New Delhi 110002
Phones: 23284848, 23289100
Fax: 23265162
E-mail: manbooks@vsnl.com
sales@manoharbooks.com
To order your copy at www.manoharbooks.com
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