Late 16th to 19th century · Rajasthan: Mewar, Bundi, Kota, Bikaner, Marwar, Kishangarh and other courts
Rajput painting
Court painting from the Rajput kingdoms of Rajasthan, each state with its own hand. It runs from flat, bright and bold to Mughal-trained refinement, and most of it was made by families of painters rather than single names.
How to recognise it
- Opaque watercolour on paper, usually small
- Flat, strong colour and bold line, above all at Mewar
- Krishna, ragamala sets, court life and the hunt
- Landscape and architecture that carry as much feeling as the figures
- Kishangarh's slender, long-eyed profiles; Kota's great hunting scenes
Rajput painting is a family of styles, not one style. The courts of Rajasthan made paintings for three centuries, and each kept its own manner. Some, Mewar and Malwa among them, carried on an older pre-Mughal idiom of flatness, bold line and bright colour. Others, such as Bundi, Bikaner and Kishangarh, came closer to Mughal refinement, partly because Rajput princes were often in residence at the Mughal court.
Mewar held out against the Mughals until 1615, and its painting stayed conservative to match. One of the earliest dated Rajput works is its Chawand Ragamala of 1605; its leading painter in the following decades was Sahibdin. A Ragamala of 1591, probably painted for the Bundi family, is by artists who said they had trained under the Mughal masters Mir Sayyid Ali and Abd al-Samad. Kota painters drew from life and made the great hunts: the Maharaos against tigers, lions and wild elephants. Bikaner records some 500 artists at court over time. Kishangarh, one of the smallest states, produced Nihal Chand’s Radha and Krishna, with arching backs and huge upturned eyes.
Almost all of it was made inside families of painters, who kept their own workshops and their own secrets. In the 19th century imported pigments and photography changed the work. At Mewar, court painting lasted until the abolition of princely powers in 1949 ended royal patronage.
What to look for
Colour first, then the setting. In the best Rajput pictures the background is as expressive as the people. Inscriptions help where they exist; Bikaner works often carry them in the Mughal fashion. Late pieces may use sharp imported colours, or be paint laid over a photograph.
