A tiger hunt at Jhajjar, Rohtak District, Panjab - 1820

This Company painting is by Ghulam Ali Khan, who was working in Delhi around 1820 and was the brother of another Company artist, Faiz Ali Khan. The painting depicts a tiger hunt at Jhajjar, Rohtak District, Panjab. Nearly all of the figures and some of the elephants are inscribed with their names in small Persian characters. In the centre of the hunt can be seen Nawab Muhammad Abdul Rahman Khan on horseback spearing a tiger, and on the horizon is a line of elephants carrying dead tigers and a deer. The nawab was a landlord in Rohtak District who owned Jhajjar, Badli and Karaund. He rebelled during the so-called 'Indian Mutiny' (also known as the First War of Indian Independence) and was executed by the British in Delhi on 23 December, 1857.

'Company paintings' were produced by Indian artists for Europeans living and working in the Indian subcontinent, especially British employees of the East India Company. They represent a fusion of traditional Indian artistic styles with conventions and technical features borrowed from western art. Some Company paintings were specially commissioned, while others were virtually mass-produced and could be purchased in bazaars.

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