Mir Taqi Mir
Mir Taqi Mir (1723-1810) Lucknow, 1800-10 Light washes of pigments on paper Image: 11.5 x 8 cm Folio: 32 x 23.9 cm Inscription: (back) Nawab Taqi of Lucknow A small inscription on the verso informs us that this bespectacled, grey-bearded man is Mir Taqi Mir, whom many consider one of the greatest Urdu poets of […]
Reza Qoli Mirza Afshar
Reza Qoli Mirza Afshar (1717-1749) Lucknow, 1800-20 Opaque pigments with gold on paper Image: 21.6 x 14.7 cm Inscription: (front) Nader Qoli Mirza Reza Qoli Mirza Afshar was the eldest son of Nader Shah Afshar. In 1736, his father entrusted him with Khorasan. From Khorasan, Reza sieged Andkhui in 1737 and Balkh shortly afterward. He […]
Raja Vijay Bahadur Singh Ju Deo
Raja Vijay Bahadur Singh Ju Deo (r. 1782-1829) Central India, probably Charkhari, 1800 Opaque pigments with gold on paper Image: 30 x 23.5 cm Folio: 32.5 x 26 cm Inscription: (front) Top Left to Right -Mirza Barikara (Standing in the window), -Ku. (Kuvar) Devi Sinh, -Shri Maharaj Bije (Vijay) Bahadur Ju Dev, -Lala Mohan Middle Left […]
Maharaja Man Singh of Ratlam
Maharaja Man Singh (r. 1716-1743) of Ratlam Sitamau or Ratlam, 1790-1800 Opaque pigments with gold on paper Image: 21.6 x 17.5 cm Inscription: (back) Maharaja Shri mansingh ji ri Chaabi (Ratlam) In 1684 Maharaja Shri Kesho Das of Ratlam was deposed after it was learned that state employees had murdered an imperial tax collector who […]
Maharaja Raj Singh II
Maharaja Raj Singh II (r. 4th to 25th April, 1787) Bikaner, 1787-90 Opaque pigments with gold on paper Image: 18.8 x 14.7 cm Inscription: (front) Maharaj Shri Raj Singh ji, Raja Bikaner. Raj Singh rebelled against his father Maharaja Gaj Singh in 1775 and then fled to the temple sanctuary in Deshnoke where he would […]
Nawab Ahmad Khan Bangash
Nawab Ahmad Khan Bangash (r. 1749-71) with His Son Diler Himmat Khan Farrukhabad, 1770 Opaque pigments with gold on paper Image: 19.6 x 12.6 cm Folio: 42.2 x 28.4 cm Inscription: (front) The Portrait of Nawab Ahmad Khan Ghalib Jung Ahmad Khan was the son of Muhammad Khan, a Bangash Afghan who rose to prominence […]
Aurangzeb
Aurangzeb (1618-1707) Lucknow or Faizabad, 1770 Opaque pigments with gold on paper Image: 17.5 x 11.5 cm Folio: 39.1 x 26.9 cm Inscription: (front) Tasweer Alamgeer Badshah Our portrait, which depicts Aurangzeb at a fairly advanced age, is part of a group that was produced in the workshop of the versatile painter Mihr Chand (active […]
Imam Quli Khan
Imam Quli Khan (1582-1633) Hyderabad, 1760-80 Opaque pigments with gold on paper Image: 24 x 14 cm Folio: 28 x 17.3 cm Inscription: (back) This is the portrait of Ali Quli Khan Deewane, Qizilbash The identity of the elaborately turbaned figure seen here, seated on a throne, is confirmed by an earlier Golconda version of […]
Raja Dhurb Dev
Raja Dhurb Dev (r. 1703-d. 1725) signed by Uttam Jammu, 1760 Opaque pigments with gold on paper Image: 19.3 x 13 cm Folio: 21.8 x 16 cm Inscription: (front) Shri Raja Dhurb Dev Jamwal; (back) Likhtam Uttam According to Ganeshdas Badehra, the author of the Rajdarshani, an important history of the Jammu rulers written in […]
Aurangzeb
Aurangzeb (1618-1707) Attributable to the Workshop of Laharu Chamba, 1755-60 Opaque pigments with gold on paper Image: 17.3 x 10.4 cm The elderly ruler here, seated at a jharokha, wearing a Mughal style jama and gold fur trimmed coat is immediately recognizable as the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. Posthumous pictures of him in old age were […]