The Grand Mughals - Babur to Bahadur Shah Zafar (1526-1857)

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 5 Nov 2012 Rare Paintings
Susanna and the Elders, folio from the Gulshan Album (Rose Garden album)
ca. 1595

Mughal dynasty
Reign of Jahangir
Oil on paper (image); opaque watercolor and gold on paper (borders)
H: 24.7 W: 13.4 cm
India

This folio is a striking demonstration of Mughal artistic creativity and experimenta... Read More
 5 Nov 2012 Rare Paintings
Seated Youth, ca. 1600

Abu'l Hasan b. 1588 or 1589)
Mughal dynasty
Reign of Jahangir

Opaque watercolor, ink and gold on paper
H: 12.4 W: 7.3 cm
India

Portraits of graceful young men reading or holding flowers are frequent in Iranian painting though rare in Mughal art. This drawin... Read More
 4 Nov 2012 Rare Paintings
Persian Portraits, Etc.
Double view. On left: Album leaf (verso). Portrait. The bow-bearer of Shah ?Abbas. On right: Album leaf (recto); painting. Vishnu as Matsya returning the Vedas to Brahman. On paper.
Mughal Style
Late 17th century
Deccan, India

© Trustees of the British Museum Read More
 1 Nov 2012 Rare Paintings
"I came alone and I go as a stranger. I do not know who I am, nor what I have been doing."

— Aurangzeb, the sixth Mughal emperor of India

Read more at Amanda McCrina's blog:

http://bit.ly/SqPWuL

Image:
Painting; Watercolour on ivory, Aurangzeb (1658-1707), Delhi, ca.1850

Copyright: © V&A Images Read More
 1 Nov 2012 Rare Paintings
Emperor Aurangzeb in a Shaft of Light with later floral border from The St. Petersburg Album
ca. 1660

Hunhar (Indian)
Mughal dynasty
Reign of Emperor Aurangzeb
Opaque watercolor on paper with gold
H: 47.2 W: 32.2 cm
India

The garden setting may be a reference to Agharabad (later ... Read More
 1 Nov 2012 Rare BOOKS
Digital Rare Book:
A Vindication of Aurangzeb
By Sadiq Ali of Kapurthala
Published in Kapurthala - 1916

Read Book Online:

http://bit.ly/PJ3hlq

Download pdf Book:

http://bit.ly/U0cffy

Excerpts from the Preface:

"My object in writing this essay is to caution students of the h... Read More
 1 Nov 2012 Article/Essay
Article:
The truth about Aurangzeb
By Francois Gautier
Rediff.com - February 16, 2007

Thus, we thought we should get at the root of the matter. History (like journalism) is about documentation and first-hand experience. We decided to show Aurangzeb according to his own documents. There are an i... Read More
 1 Nov 2012 Rare Manuscripts
Firman of the Emperor Aurangzeb
1661-62

Mughal dynasty
Ink, color, and gold on paper
H: 110.0 W: 47.5 cm
India

The firman—dated to Aurangzeb's fourth regnal year, corresponding to A.H. 1072/A.D. 1661-62—is written in clear and legible nast'liq and consists of fourteen lines of text. It begin... Read More
 1 Nov 2012 Rare Paintings
Nobleman smoking on a terrace
North India, c. 1670

A Mughal nobleman, possibly an officer serving with Aurangzeb’s armies in the Deccan, sits drinking from a porcelain wine-cup, while a youth in a flowered robe holds the hookah steady for him. Further youthful attendants stand at either side.... Read More
 1 Nov 2012 Rare BOOKS
Digital Rare Book:
Ruqa't-i 'lamgr
By Emperor Aurangzeb
Published by Matba-i-Nizami, Kanpur - 1857
In Farsi

Read Book Online:

http://bit.ly/Q876R4

Download pdf Book:

http://bit.ly/SyFuUE

"No age is wanting in able men; it is the duty of wise masters to find them out, win them over, and get w... Read More
 1 Nov 2012 Rare Photographs
Tomb of Rabia Durrani, at Aurangabad - 1880

Photograph of the Bibi-ka-Maqbara, or Queen's Tomb, in Aurangabad, taken by Deen Dayal in the 1880s, from the Curzon Collection: 'Views of HH the Nizam's Dominions, Hyderabad, Deccan, 1892'. This tomb, built in 1678, is the most well known building i... Read More
 1 Nov 2012 Rare Paintings
The elephant Ganesh Gaj and rider
North India, 1660 - 1670

In this imposing portrait of Ganesh Gaj, the painter exaggerates his size to emphasise his grandeur. The rider is a prince in a floral robe, possibly a son of the emperor Aurangzeb. With its distant hilly landscape and a passing camel... Read More
 1 Nov 2012 Rare BOOKS
Digital Rare Book:
AURANGZIB and the decay of the Mughal Empire
By Stanley Lane-Poole
Printed at The Clarendon Press, Oxford - 1901

Read Book Online:

http://bit.ly/QVQqcH

Download pdf Book:

http://bit.ly/TmZ6Xj


Image:
Prince Aurangzeb
Deccan Plateau, 1653 - 1655

Aurangzeb, the third son o... Read More
 1 Nov 2012 Rare Photographs
View of screen of the Bibi-ka-Maqbara from the neighbouring verandah, Aurangabad - 1868

Photograph of the screen of the Bibi-ka-Maqbara at Aurangabad in Maharashtra, from the Archaeological Survey of India Collections, taken by Henry Mack Nepean in 1868. This tomb, built in 1678, is the most w... Read More
 31 Oct 2012 Rare Paintings
Prince Azam Shah enters Ahmedabad
North India, 1701

Azam Shah (1653-1707), the third son of Aurangzeb, governed Gujarat from 1701-1705. Arriving in the city of Ahmedabad, he is carried in a palanquin while his son Wala Jah follows on horseback. Townspeople, women and children throng the stree... Read More
 31 Oct 2012 Rare Photographs
General view of the Bibi-ka-Maqbara, Aurangabad - 1868

Photograph of the Bibi-ka-Maqbara at Aurangabad in Maharashtra, from the Archaeological Survey of India Collections, taken by Henry Mack Nepean in 1868. The Bibi-ka-Maqbara or Queen's Tomb built in 1678, is the most well known building in ... Read More
 31 Oct 2012 Article/Essay
Bibi-Ka-Maqbara

The Bibi-Ka-Maqbara (19°55’ N; 75°15’ E) is a beautiful mausoleum of Rabia-ul-Daurani alias Dilras Banu Begum, the wife of the Mughal Emperor Aurangazeb (1658-1707 A.D.). This mausoleum is believed to be constructed by Prince Azam Shah in memory of his mother between 1651 and 1... Read More
 31 Oct 2012 Rare Paintings
Mausoleum of Rabi'a Daurani, Aurangabad - 1816

Pen-and-ink and water-colour drawing of the mausoleum of Rabi'a Daurani at Aurangabad by Colin MacKenzie (1754-1821) in 1816. Inscribed on the front in ink is: 'Mausoleum of Rabeea Dooranny, wife of the Emperor Aurunzebe at Aurangabad.'

The Bib... Read More
 30 Oct 2012 New Books
New Book:
The Complete Taj Mahal
By Ebba Koch
Published by Thames & Hudson - 2012

Book Summary:
The Taj Mahal is the masterpiece of Mughal art and one of the most famous buildings in the world. Yet until now, there has been no full analysis of its architecture and meaning. The lost world o... Read More
 30 Oct 2012 Article/Essay
Over all, so exquisite is the workmanship that it is said - “having been designed by the giants and finished by jewelers“.

Emperor Shah Jahan himself described the Taj in these words:

Should guilty seek asylum here,
Like one pardoned, he becomes free from sin.
Should a sinner make his way to th... Read More
 30 Oct 2012 Rare Paintings
Watercolour entitled 'The Gardens of the Taj Mahal'. Initialled by the artist.

Artist: Hercules Brabazon Brabazon, born 1821 - died 1906 (artist)
British School

Copyright: © V&A Images Read More