Asian and African studies blog

The Visual Arts department has recently added to its collection a folio from the dispersed ‘Impey’ Ramayana. The Ramayana manuscript is named for its patron Sir Elijah Impey, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in Calcutta in the late 18^th century. Sir Elijah and Lady Mary Impey were well-established patrons of art and often commissioned illustrations to manuscripts or sets of paintings by local artists in Bengal. The provenance of this folio, as well as the rest of the series, is authenticated by the seal of Sir Elijah Impey stamped on the verso. Impey's manuscript (or possibly even a portfolio), which consisted of 44 single sided folios with no text pages, was later acquired by Sir Thomas Phillipps Bt (1792-1872). In 1968, the 44 folios were dispersed at auction.

The British Library is currently the only national collection to have in its collection a folio from this dispersed series. The only other folio, showing Rama kills Vali, in a public collection is at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.  

Lakshman cuts of the nose of Shurpanakha by a Murshidabad artist, c. 1780. Opaque watercolour on paper. British Library, Add.Or.5725

The Ramayana is one of the great Sanskrit epics narrating the story of Rama, prince of Ayodhya, who lived in exile for 14 years. The story is attributed to the sage Valmiki, a contemporary of Rama.  Accompanied by his wife Sita and brother Lakshman, the Ramayama recounts their adventures and misfortunes including the kidnapping of Sita by the demon Ravana. The epic tale is composed of 24,000 verses that were divided into seven books. The episode depicted here, featuring Lakshman cutting off the nose of Shurpanakha, is reported in the Aranyakanda (‘Book of the Forest’).

Shurpanakha, the sister of Ravana (the 10-headed demon king of Lanka) encountered the handsome Rama at his hermitage. Awestruck by his beauty, she instantly transformed herself from a hideous demon with matted red hair into a vision of beauty. Initally rebuffed by Rama, she approached Lakshman and proclaimed: ‘My beauty renders me a worthy wife for thee; therefore come and we will range the Dandaka Forest and mountains happily together’ (Shastri 1952-59). Lakshman replied in jest: ‘how canst thou wish to become the wife of a slave, such as I? I am wholly dependent on my noble brother. Thou whose complexion resembles the lotus, who art pleasing to look upon and chaste? Lady of large eyes, though art a paragon, do thou become the consort of that matchless hero. Renouncing that ugly, evil and peevish old woman, whose limbs are deformed, he will certainly devote himself to thee! Lady of ravishing complexion and lovely limbs, what sensible man would sacrifice that unrivalled beauty of thine for an ordinary woman?’ (Shastri 1952-59).

Grasping the reality of his prose, Shurapanka unfurled her wrath on Rama’s beautiful wife Sita. Lakshman immediately pulled his sword and cut off the nose and ears of Shurpanakha!

Detail showing Lakshman mutilating Shurpanakha

Shrieking in pain and her face streaming with blood, she fled to her brother Ravana. The 10-headed demon sent his army to retaliate. In the lower half of the page, Rama and Lakshman are featured in combat with the demon army.

Detail showing Rama fighting the demons

This folio from the Impey Ramayana provides art historians the opportunity to further explore the regional style of painting at Murshidabad in Bengal in the 18th century. Impey’s commissions, including a set of ragamala paintings (British Library, Add.Or.4-8 and Add.Or.27-31) and the illustrations to a Razmnama manuscript (British Library, Add.5638-5640), are typically painted in a more refined and imperial style of painting. The artist who depicted Lakshman brutally mutilating the demon appears to have rapidly executed his paintings with the figures modeled with thick outlines and stylised features. There is little attention to the fine details. With further research on the illustrations to the Impey Ramayana and other commissions, it might be possible to ascertain the extent of Sir Elijah’s personal influence on the artistic style of this manuscript and regional artists. Through additional research on the illustrations to this series, it might be possible to create a detailed timeline of the artistic practices in Murshidabad.

Material held in the Visual Arts department can be viewed by appointment in the Print Room. The Print Room located in the Asian & African Studies Reading Room and is open Monday-Friday afternoons. Please email [email protected] for an appointment.

Further reading:

T. Falk and M. Archer, Indian Miniatures in the India Office Library, Sotheby Parke Barnet, 1981

J.P. Losty, The Art of the Book in India, British Library, 1982

J.P. Losty, The Ramayana: Love and Valour in India's great epic, British Library, 2008

H.P. Shastri (trans.), The Ramayana of Valmiki, Shanti Shadan, 1952-59

Malini Roy, Visual Arts Curator

@BL_VisualArts

The artistic career of Colonel Robert Smith (1787-1873), of the Bengal Engineers, is one of the most interesting among the many soldier artists who were in India in the 18th and 19th centuries. Although his work is well known, there are certain confusions about his output which this note is designed to clarify. There were in fact two soldier artists Robert Smiths in India in the early 19th century.  Our Smith was in India from 1805 to 1830, in the Bengal Engineers. Eight of his watercolours (WD2087-94) and five sketchbooks packed with topographical drawings (WD309-13) are in the British Library’s collections, as well as two small oil paintings (F864-5, see: http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/artists/smith-colonel-robert-17871873). The sketchbooks all date from 1812-15, while the eight watercolours date from 1814. In her catalogue Mildred Archer (1969: 317-23) dated the watercolours to 1833 through confusing his work with that of another Robert Smith (1792-1882), a Captain in the British regiment of the line H.M. 44th (East Essex) Foot, which was in India 1825-33.  This Captain Smith prepared an illustrated diary of Indian views from 1828-33 and drew various panoramas of Indian cities, all now in the Victoria and Albert Museum (Rohatgi and Parlett:  207-10).

Our Robert Smith joined the Bengal Engineers immediately after his arrival in Calcutta in 1805. His first post was as Assistant to Major Fleming in building at the Nawab's palace at Murshidabad a new Palladian banqueting hall for entertaining British visitors, a building which he was subsequently to paint.

Robert Smith, The Nawab’s Palace at Murshidabad, 1814.  Watercolour on paper.  19 by 35 cm. WD2094.

After completing a number of engineering works in Bengal in 1808-10, Smith went off on the Governor-General Lord Minto's expedition to capture Mauritius from the French in 1810.  On his return he was commended by the Surveyor General as ‘by far the best draughtsman I am acquainted with’, which may be one of the reasons he was selected to accompany as A.D.C. the Commander-in-Chief Sir George Nugent on his tour of the Upper Provinces, 1812-13. We learn more of his artistic talents from his art-loving admirer Lady Nugent in her Journal :  ‘Received a present of drawings from Mr. Smith, an engineer A.D.C.  He draws beautifully, and his sketches are all so correct, that I know every place immediately’ (v. I, 277). 

Robert Smith, The Ghats at Haridwar, January 1813.  Pencil on paper.  Size of folio: 27 by 44.5 cm.  WD309, ff.21v, 22.

WD309 covers Smith’s time with the Nugents December 1812 to January 1813 when they were travelling from Haryana up to Haridwar. On a later occasion Lady Nugent wrote: ‘I took the engineer officer, Mr. Smith, with me, and we projected a drawing of the line of march, which will be a treasure to me if he executes it according to my plan, and I have little doubt of its being quite perfect, by what I have seen of his drawings’ (v. I, 395).

Robert Smith, Sketches on the Line of March, 1814.  Pencil on paper.  27 by 44.5 cm.  WD312, f.25v. 

Of the many images in these five sketchbooks, I have selected two, one indicative of Smith’s remarkable draughtsmanship, the other illustrating Lady Nugent’s comments about her proposed line of march (although this drawing is actually from a later tour with Lord Moira, not with the Nugents).

He was next appointed as Inspecting Engineer to accompany Lord Moira (both Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief) on his tour to the Upper Provinces from May 1814, being ‘selected from his character for talents and abilities’. He was with Moira until the end of 1814 when he joined General Martindell's Division in the Anglo-Nepal War of 1814-15, when he was appointed Assistant Field Engineer.

Archer conflates the two Robert Smiths (1969: 317-18) and when discussing the eight fine watercolours by Robert Smith in the collection (ibid., 322-3), gives them the precise dates in 1833 when the other Robert Smith visited these places according to his journal in the V & A, forgetting that our Robert Smith had gone to England in 1830 and retired in 1832. Giles Tillotson (in Bayly 1990: no. 258), aware of this inconvenient fact, but still following Archer's precise datings, gives them to this second Robert Smith, with whose work they have nothing in common. In fact the entire group is earlier, some of them being painted on paper watermarked 1807. They form a series of views along the river Ganges, from Murshidabad to Allahabad, and can best be dated to Smith's journey upriver to join Lord Moira in 1814. 

Robert Smith, Distant View of the Ganges at Bhagalpur, with Augustus Cleveland’s House, 1814.  Watercolour on paper, 19 by 35 cm.  WD2092.

Robert Smith, Aurangzeb’s Mosque at Varanasi, 1814.  Watercolour on paper, 19 by 35 cm.  WD2089.

Robert Smith, Mosque and Fort at Allahabad, 1814.  Watercolour on paper, 19 by 35 cm.  WD2087.

Not only are these superb watercolours, they give us precious information about the past before the age of photography. Smith’s view of Allahabad, for instance, focuses on a strange looking hybrid of a building, which is referred to by Lord Moira in his journal entry for 27 September 1814: ‘A mosque of rather elegant structure stands on the esplanade beyond the glacis. When we obtained possession of Allahabad, the proprietary right in the mosque was considered as transferred by the former Government to ours; and from some temporary exigency, the building was filled with stores. These being subsequently removed, much injury, through wantonness or neglect, was suffered by the edifice; and upon some crude suggestion, our Government had directed it to be pulled down. ... The Moslems now implored that the building might be regarded as a monument of piety, and be spared. I have ordered that it shall be cleansed and repaired, and then delivered over to the petitioners’ (Hastings 1858: v. I, 161-2). Smith’s drawing shows us the mosque in question, but it is obvious that after the British got hold of Allahabad in 1801, they ‘classicised’ the mosque as they did the fort’s great gateway and the buildings within, with alterations to the dome and windows.

Thomas Daniell, Fort and Mosque at Allahabad from the River Jumna, 1789. Pencil and wash. 23 by 38 cm. WD196.

A drawing by Thomas Daniell dating from 1789 shows what the original structure looked like complete with cupolas and minarets and pointed Mughal arches on the model of Akbar’s mosque at Fatehpur Sikri.  This mosque does not seem to have survived.

An alternative dating for Smith’s series of watercolours is 1822, when he was on his way to take up his post in Delhi (see below), but this seems unlikely in view of the watermarked date. One of the views, of the palace of the Nawab of Murshidabad seen above, is demonstrably the old palace with Major Fleming’s banqueting hall, not the new one built 1829-37 by Colonel McLeod.

William Prinsep, The New Palace at Murshidabad, c. 1835.  Watercolour on paper.  22.5 by 44cm. WD4032. The palace was built between 1829 and 1837, but Prinsep’s misplacing of the pediments suggests it was not yet complete when he sketched it.

Smith was next appointed as Superintending Engineer and Executive Officer at Prince of Wales Island (Penang), where he remained until 1819, when he took three years of leave (Smith 1821). He returned to India on 30 October 1822 and was appointed Garrison Engineer and Executive Officer at Delhi, where he remained for the rest of his Indian career, except for joining Lord Combermere's forces for the siege of Bharatpur in 1825-6. There he was wounded – ‘I fear that I shall be sometime deprived of the very efficient services of Captain Smith of the Engineers who has unfortunately received a severe contusion on the left shoulder from a spent shot from a jingal’ (Lord Combermere's Dispatch 26 December 1825). In addition to the usual garrison work in Delhi, Smith repaired the Jami’ Masjid ‘in an entirely satisfactory manner and at an expense considerably below the calculated charges. The fullest testimony borne to his exertions, skill, and economy’ (Revenue Letter from Bengal, 16 August 1827). His most famous enterprise in Delhi was the repair of the upper two storeys of the Qutb Minar, and his controversial addition of a cupola in a Mughal style.  

Anon. Delhi artist, The Qutb Minar with Robert Smith’s cupola, c. 1830.  Page 28 by 22 cm.  Add.Or.4034.

‘Government sanctioned the expense of a small estimate for the care of the Minar under the judicious rules framed by him’ (Political Letter, 9 October 1830, para. 40). ‘The zeal and ability with which he successfully conducted the important public undertaking [the maintenance of the Doab Canal] so long carried on under his superintendence was acknowledged by Government (Misc. Revenue Letter from Bengal, 6 September 1831, para 39).  

Smith’s later work in India consists of topographical views in oils and is relatively well known (see Head 1981, Tillotson 1992). Leave to Europe via Bombay was granted in November 1830, when he was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel, and he reported his arrival in England to the Court of Directors on 29 June 1831. His appointment as C.B. was announced in G.O. 3 May 1832. He formally retired in November 1832 at the relatively young age of 45. He continued to paint and numerous of his oil paintings have passed through the salerooms over the years.

Further Reading:

Bengal Army Service Records, IOR: L/MIL/10/21, 131-3, and no. 32

Archer, Mildred, British Drawings in the India Office Library (London, 1969): 317-23

Bayly, C.A. (ed.), The Raj:  India and the British 1600-1947 (London, 1991): 257-9

Hastings, 1st Marquess of, The Private Journal of the Marquess of Hastings, K.G., ed. by the Marchioness of Bute (London, 1858)

Head, Raymond, ‘Colonel Robert Smith: Artist., Architect and Engineer’, Country Life 169 (1981): 1432-4, 1524-8

Nugent, Maria, A Journal from the Year 1811 till the Year 1815 … (London, 1839)

Rohatgi, Pauline, and Parlett, Graham, Indian Life and Landscape by Western Artists:  Paintings and Drawings from the Victoria and Albert Museum (London and Mumbai, 2008): 207-10

Smith, Robert, Views of Prince of Wales Island, engraved and coloured by William Daniell …(London, 1821)

Tillotson, G., Robert Smith (1787-1873), Paintings of the Mosque at the Qutb Minar, Delhi, Indar Pasricha Fine Arts (London, 1992)

J.P. Losty, Curator of Visual Arts (retired)

Since the closure of the British Library's exhibition Mughal India: Art, Culture and Empire in April 2013, we have had the opportunity to launch facsimile versions of the show first in Kabul, Afghanistan this past summer and now in New Delhi, India this winter. 

The Mughals: Life, Art and Culture has been curated by the British Library and is brought to New Delhi by Roli Books in collaboration with the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts. It will be open for public viewing from 22nd November - 31st December 2013.

The exhibition showcases the British Library's extensive collection of illustrated manuscripts and paintings that were commissioned by Mughal emperors and other officials and depict the splendour and vibrant colour of Mughal life. The artwork cover a variety of subject matter; from scenes of courtly life including lively hunting parties and formal portraits of emperor to illustrations of works of literature which manage to convey the complex storylines in a single image, and dramatic panoramas of Indian landscape.

The child Akbar recognizes his mother at Kabul in 1545. This scene, from the Akbarnāmah, takes place in the women’s quarters. Ascribed to Madhu with principal portraits painted by Narsigh, 1602-3. BL Or.12988, f. 114r.

Many of these works have never been published until now. Some of the rare exhibits on display include Shah Jahan's recipe book, 'Notebook of Fragrance', an 18th century manuscript 'Book of Affairs of Love' by Rai Anand Ram Mukhlis, 'Reminiscences of Imperial Delhi by Metcalfe and illustrated by the studio of Mazhar Ali Khan, a route map from Delhi to Qandahar, the earliest Indian atlas, a map of Delhi, and some of the most extraordinary portraits of the Mughal emperors. Being in a library and not a museum, most of the objects are kept in storage and are rarely seen. This exhibition provides a unique opportunity for Indian viewers to be a part of their own history.

Akbar is re-united with his mother after an absence of two years. This scene, from the Akbarnāmah, takes place in the women’s quarters. One of the ladies is almost certainly Gulbadan (Or.12988, f. 114r)   
- See more at: http://britishlibrary.typepad.co.uk/asian-and-african/2013/01/a-mughal-princesss-autobiography.html#sthash.f2u8YiAV.dpuf

The exhibition will be inaugurated on Thursday 21 November 2013 by the Honourable Vice President Shri Hamid Ansari as the Chief Guest, with Shri Salman Khurshid, Honourable Minister of External Affairs as the Guest of Honour. A new publication by British Library curators and printed by Roli Books will accompany the show. For the British Library publication, Mughal India: Art, Culture and Empire by J.P. Losty and Malini Roy, please click here.

Events accompanying the exhibition include:

22 November, 5.30pm     John Falconer, Lead Curator of Visual Arts (British Library)
India in Focus:  Photographs from South Asia

23 November, 5.30pm     William Dalrymple, Author
Painting in Late Mughal Delhi, 1707-1857

27 November, 5.30pm     Dr. Pushpesh Pant, Author, Historian
Food, Culture and the Mughals

29 November, 5.30pm     M.J. Akbar, Journalist, Author
Akbar: The Many Dimensions of Mughal India's Greatest Emperor

Among the most spectacular of the paintings in the recent British Library exhibition Mughal India: Art, Culture and Empire were two of the latest known dated works of Ghulam ‘Ali Khan, showing the court of the last Nawab of Jhajjar, ‘Abd al-Rahman Khan, in 1849 and 1852.

Nawab ‘Abd al-Rahman in his court in hot weather with various musicians and courtiers.  By Ghulam ‘Ali Khan, May-June 1849. British Library, Add.Or.4680.

 
Nawab ‘Abd al-Rahman of Jhajjar in his court in cool weather with his two young sons and various courtiers and attendants.  By Ghulam ‘Ali Khan, dated January-February 1852. British Library, Add.Or.4681.

All the numerous inscriptions identifying the participants in these two durbars were given in the book accompanying the exhibition (see Losty and Roy 2012, pp. 231-32), as well as references to other known works of Ghulam ‘Ali Khan done for the Nawab of Jhajjar, but the identification of the young European officer seated to the left of the Nawab in the 1852 picture was left undecided. His name is given in Persian characters beside him: Alakzandar Hadarli sahib.  He is dressed in a blue coat and cap, and appears to be a political officer of the Bengal civil service dressed in undress military uniform.  Diligent searches, however, of the relevant India Office files and published biographical sources failed to find any mention of any Haderly or Hiderly in any capacity in the military or civil service in the Bengal Presidency.  However, purely by chance, while researching someone else in Beale’s Oriental Biographical Dictionary, my eye fell on the following entry:

‘AZAD, the poetical name of Captain Alexander Hiderley, in the service of the Raja of Alwar.  He was a good poet and left a small Diwan in Urdu.  His father’s name is James Hiderley and his brother’s Thomas.  He died on the 7th of July, , 1861, Zilhajj AH 1277, at Alwar aged 32 years.’

Here was the answer to the problem that had vexed me since the British Library acquired these two paintings in 1994.  Hiderley seated immediately to the Nawab’s left turns out to be good-looking young man of about 22 if Beale is to be relied upon.  Clearly he had no difficulty in sitting in the Indian manner, suggesting that he might not after all be a regular East India Company man.  But if he was in Alwar service as Beale indicates, what was he doing in Jhajjar? Despite his date of death being known, there was no mention of it in the relevant volumes of the Bengal almanacs and directories. 

Detail showing Alexander Hiderley, British Library, Add.Or.4681.

Beale also describes young Alexander as a Captain, which accords with his uniform in this picture.  His absence from the official East India Company records suggested that he was ‘country-born’ with an Indian mother and that he found employment with the nobility round Delhi such as the Maharao Raja of Alwar and the Nawab of Jhajjar.  His literary productions also awaited discovery.  There is for instance no mention of him in Garcin de Tassy’s Histoire or Sprenger’s catalogue of the libraries of Oudh.

Perhaps Beale was transcribing his name from Urdu records and hence was not certain of its exact spelling?  Following this train of thought, a clue was provided in a search of the BACSA records for the Alwar cemetery in the hope that he might have been buried there in 1861 (MSS Eur F370/1329), but this search yielded no Alexander Haderli but instead an Eva Heatherly.  She was buried there in 1892, the wife of a George Heatherly, who was Superintendent of Jails at Alwar and died in 1901 in Delhi aged 60.  Was Hiderly the same as Heatherly, only badly transliterated?  Online genealogical records confirmed this supposition and revealed that George was the son of a Thomas Heatherly, who was the elder brother of Alexander Heatherly Azad (1829-61), our poet and captain.  Thomas too was something of a writer, since a manuscript of his diary in Urdu for 1842-53 is in the Central Reference Library of Delhi University, where he describes himself as in the service of Nawab Qaisar ‘Ali Khan Sahib.  Their father was James Heatherly (1787-1859), as Beale indicates, who turned out to be one of the East India Company’s subordinate officials.  He is described in the East India Registers as a writer or clerk in the customs or commissioner’s office in first Meerut and then Delhi.  He was an uncovenanted civil servant, which suggests that he went to India unofficially as many did to make some kind of career for themselves there.  There were in fact ten children in all, so the elder Heatherly seems to have made himself very comfortable in Meerut with an unnamed Indian woman.

Alexander Heatherly Azad was in fact well known in Delhi poetical circles under his pen-name Azad as a pupil of ‘Arif and he took part in the musha’iras arranged by Bahadur Shah Zafar and the princes.  He is mentioned in Farhatullah Beg’s Dehli ki akhri shama, translated by Akhtar Qamber as The Last Musha’irah of Delhi, as sitting among the 40 poets gathered in the courtyard of a great house for a night of poetry presided over by Mirza Fakhr al-Din, Bahadur Shah Zafar’s favourite son and, under the name Ramz, a fine poet in his own right.  Azad was ‘one of the great poets of the Urdu language’ (Saksena 1941, pp. 73-4).

I quote from The Last Musha’irah (pp. 88-9): “The shama’ [lamp] now came to Azad.  Azad’s own name is Alexander Heatherly.  He is French by nationality [this is obviously wrong] but was born in Delhi.  It was in Delhi that he received his education and was commissioned as captain of the Arsenal in the Armed Forces station at Alwar.  He is about twenty-one years old and has some knowledge of medicine.  He is a great lover of poetry and is a shagird [disciple] of ‘Arif’s.  The moment he gets wind of a musha’irah he promptly arrives in Delhi.  He wears a military uniform and speaks such pure idiomatic Urdu that you would take him for an authentic Dehlivala.  His couplets are not bad either.  Please judge for yourself:

So hot and passionate a sinner am I on the course of life
That not a trace of moisture is left in my garment of sin.
Had you strength in your feet you could wander aimless in the wilderness;
And your hands would know the madness of tearing your pocket.
Azad, is there any limit to his absent-mindedness and oblivion?
On the day of Chehlam [the 40th day of mourning] he turns up to ask after the health of the deceased!”

Qamber adds that Heatherly’s father was in fact English and his mother an Indian Muslim, and that he used either Azad or Alec as his nom de plume.

As for Azad’s master, Maharao Raja Binay Singh of Alwar (reg. 1815-57) was a great patron of art, literature and architecture and transformed the town of Alwar as well as the royal collections.  He built the main palace in Alwar and a small and beautiful one called Moti Dungri or Banni Bilas a short distance outside.  His greatest work was the construction of a dam at Siliserh ten miles from Alwar which formed a lake from which water was brought to the town and its environs (Powlett 1878, pp. 23-23).  He enticed to his court painters, calligraphers, illuminators and bookbinders, including such artists as Ghulam ‘Ali Khan from Delhi and the Jaipur artist Baldev (see Hendley’s Ulwar and its Art Treasures, passim).  A rather fine portrait of Maharao Raja Binay Singh by Baldev is also in the British Library. 

Maharao Raja Binay Singh of Alwar by Baldev, c. 1840. British Library,  India Office Album 53, no. 5048.

He was apparently stricken with paralysis during the last five years of his life when the governance of the state passed into the hands of his Muslim ministers which caused much trouble during his son Sheodan Singh’s reign.  In 1857 he sent the flower of his army to assist the beleaguered garrison in Agra.  They were set upon at Achnera by revolutionary sepoys from Nimach and Nasirabad.  The Alwar Muslims including the artillery sided with the rebels but the Rajputs fought and many perished.  It is not recorded whether Captain Heatherly was with the artillery on that occasion, but he certainly seems to have survived until 1861.

Although it would seem that Heatherly wore his military uniform even at poetic gatherings, his official uniform of the Maharao Raja of Alwar’s service in the 1852 painting by Ghulam ‘Ali Khan suggests that he had come to Jhajjar not as a poet but as an envoy from the Alwar Raja.  He is seated on the Nawab’s left opposite to the Nawab’s chief minister Pandit Kedarnath Sahib, alongside whom are ranged the chief judge and court officials.  The documents which they are holding or which are on the ground before them are official documents and not books of poetry, so presumably the scene represents the amicable resolution of some border dispute.  The town of Jhajjar is some 50 miles west of New Delhi, but the state itself, before its abolition in 1857, on its southern boundary bordered the state of Alwar.

In 1857 Nawab ‘Abd al-Rahman Khan made the mistake of hedging his bets, and paid for it with his life, being put on trial in Delhi and hanged on 23rd December 1857.  His end is described in William Dalrymple’s The Last Mughal (p. 417).  His estates were confiscated: most became part of the British district of Rohtak, although some areas were awarded to the loyal Sikh chiefs of Patiala, Nabha and Jind.  His moveable possessions were placed in the hands of the prize agents although Government did award pensions to his dependents. 

As for Alexander Heatherly Azad, caught between the two worlds and seeing the one that he had most identified with being brutally destroyed, he presumably retired to Alwar where he and his relatives continued in the service of the Maharao Raja.  Manuscripts of his poems might yet be found in the collections of the museum in Alwar and elsewhere in Rajasthan.

Bibliography
Dalrymple, W., The Last Mughal:  the Fall of a Dynasty, Delhi, 1857, Bloomsbury, London, 2006
Farhatullah Beg’s Dehli ki akhri shama, translated by Akhtar Qamber as The Last Musha’irah of Delhi, Orient Longman, New Delhi, 1979
Hendley, T.H., Ulwar and its Art Treasures, W. Griggs, London, 1888
Losty, J.P., and Roy, M., Mughal India: Art, Culture and Empire – Manuscripts and Paintings in the British Library, British Library, London, 2012
Powlett, P.W., Gazetteer of Ulwar, Trübner & Co., London, 1878
Saksena, Ram Babu, European and Indo-European Poets of Urdu & Persian, Lucknow, 1941


J.P. Losty, Curator of Visual Arts (Emeritus)

Earlier this week, my colleague Nur Sobers Khan (Iran Heritage Foundation Curator of Persian Manuscripts) wrote about the emperor Aurangzeb pondering the afterlife.  She discussed a little known manuscript commissioned by the emperor entitled 'The Book of Traditions on the Hereafter'.  This blog and a previous one on Islamic jurisprudence refers to Aurangzeb's religious orthodoxy. This period in history was a great challenge for local artists. In fact, his views on Islam is one of the contributing factors that led to a decline in the Mughal painting tradition. Today's blog will look at depictions of Aurangzeb painted during his lifetime from 1619-1707.

Illustrated histories of the Mughal emperors are a starting point to look for portraits of the princes and the ruling elite. The Padshahnama, the official account of Aurangzeb's father Shah Jahan's reign, was written by the historian Muhammad Lahori. Shah Jahan ruled from 1627-58. The illustrated version in the royal collection at Windsor is the only surviving contemporary version. The manuscript, however, only corresponds to Lahori’s first volume and the first ten years of Shah Jahan’s reign. From a cursory overview, the manuscript casts light on the nuances of Shah Jahan’s relationship with Aurangzeb. As compared to his siblings, Aurangzeb was less frequently painted.

Shah Jahan receives his three eldest sons and Asaf Khan during his accession ceremonies on 8 March 1628. Painted by Bichitr, c. 1630-5. Royal Collection. Wikimedia Commons

In the Padshahnama, artists document the milestones and personal achievements of the princes. In the above scene, Shah Jahan embraces his eldest and favourite son Dara Shikoh. His two younger sons, Shah Shuja (dressed in yellow) and Aurangzeb (dressed in green) appear on the left waiting for their turns. They are accompanied by their grandfather Asaf Khan. In this scene, Aurangzeb is only 9 years old. Other key events featuring Aurangzeb include the prince facing a maddening elephant named Sudhakar in June 1633 and his father Shah Jahan honouring him at his wedding on 19 May 1637. 
Prince Aurangzeb reports to Shah Jahan in durbar at Lahore in 1649. Mughal, 1650-55. British Library, Add.Or.3853

Another painting which related to the official history written by Muhammad Lahori, but prepared for a later (now dispersed) illustrated volume of the Padshahnama, features Aurangzeb reporting to Shah Jahan in 1649 (above). In this imperial durbar (official assembly) scene, Shah Jahan is seated in the jharoka (balcony for official ceremonies) inside the Divan-i 'Am or Hall of Public Audiences. This building is located in the Mughal fortress and complex in Lahore. Aurangzeb is picture standing on the left, next to other courtiers, though with his arm raised in salute to his father. Less than ten years after this event, Aurangzeb imprisoned his father in the Agra Fort, outmanoeuvred his brothers and arranged for their deaths in order to become emperor. Aurangzeb's eldest brother Dara Shikoh was the heir-apparent and favourite son. Aurangzeb claimed the throne in 1658. His father died in prison in 1666.

An exceptional military commander, Aurangzeb drastically expanded the geographic boundaries of the empire to include the Deccan plateau in central India. State revenues prospered, but constant wars to retain control of his territories gravely damaged the state finances. During his lifetime, Aurangzeb was often represented in one of two ways: either as a warrior for Islam or as a devout Muslim ruler reading a Qu'ran. As compared to the lavish paintings of Shah Jahan's period, the artistic style radically changed. Artists tended to paint simple individual portrait studies. The paintings were often painted in the nim-qalam (tinted drawing) technique with hints of and gold. Artists seemed to steer away from the developed backgrounds landscape settings. In fact, it was exceptionally rare for artists to paint historic scenes. Contemporary accounts do not offer a precise explanation for the decline in the painting traditions. Contributing factors may have included Aurangzeb’s curtailing of state expenditure, banning histories in praise of the emperor, forbidding music and dancing for pleasure at the court, and increased religiosity.

Equestrian portrait of Aurangzeb. Mughal, c. 1660-70. British Library, Johnson Album, 3.4.

In this equestrian portrait, Aurangzeb is depicted symbolically as an austere ghazi or warrior for Islam. He is dressed in full armour and holds a gold lance. His rearing horse is ready for battle and covered with chain-mail. From his belt hang a quiver of arrows and a push dagger called a katar.

Aurangzeb in his old age. Mughal, c.1700. British Library Johnson Album 2,2.

Aurangzeb left northern India for the Deccan in 1681, never to return. An increasingly orthodox Muslim, he re-instated the poll-tax levied on non-Muslims, revived the power of Muslim clerics, and fostered a political and social divide based on religion. The last portrait of Aurangzeb pictures the devout Muslim ruler in profile, with a downward gaze at a manuscript held in his hands, most likely to be the Qur’an. Dressed in stark white garments, his appearance is in sharp contrast to the golden radiance of the halo, the floral patterned bolster and the luxurious carpet hung on the window ledge. For Aurangzeb, there was no greater personal accomplishment than to memorise every verse and chapter of the Qur’an. Having committed to memory the entire text, he wrote two copies of the Qur’an in perfect calligraphy. This style of portraiture, featuring Aurangzeb in his old age and hunched over a manuscript, was commonly produced and suggests that artists felt that this was the most appropriate type of pictorial format to depict the elderly ruler.

Further reading:

M. Beach, E. Koch and W. Thackston, King of the World: The Padshahnama, Azimuth, London, 1997

Saqi Mustaʻidd Khan, Maāsir-i-ʿĀlamgiri: A history of the Emperor Aurangzib-ʿĀlamgir (reign 1658-1707 A.D.), translated into English and annotated by Sir Jadunath Sarkar. Calcutta: Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1947

J.P. Losty and M. Roy, Mughal India: Art, Culture and Empire, British Library, 2012

Malini Roy, Visual Arts Curator

Malini Roy, Visual Arts Curator - See more at: http://britishlibrary.typepad.co.uk/asian-and-african/2013/07/book-of-affairs-of-love.html#sthash.5Ng6wrIM.dpuf

Picking up the thread of previous blogs examining the patronage of legal compendia and mathematical translations at the Mughal court under Aurangzeb (r. 1658-1707), today’s entry deals with a little-known manuscript commissioned by the emperor himself. The manuscript in question is Delhi Persian 44, entitled Kitāb Akhbār al-Ma‘ād (The Book of Traditions on the Hereafter), which consists of a compilation of ḥadīth dealing with the topic of death and the afterlife, from funerals to the end of the world and the day of judgment. The ḥadīth (traditions spoken by the Prophet Muhammad and recorded by his companions and followers) are in Arabic, with a careful Persian-language exegesis that offers not only a translation and explanation of the content but also the correct pronunciation of the Arabic wording.
 

Aurangzeb in his old age reading the Qur’an.  Mughal, c.1700 (Johnson Album 2, 2)


The author, Ghulām Muḥammad al-Satirkhī, names himself in the preface. He appears to have been a minor scholar who also contributed to the monumental Fatāwā ‘Alamgiriyyah (Nadvī, 98). The Kitāb Akhbār al-Ma‘ād seems to be a unique selection of ḥadīth made by the author, rather than a Persian translation of a previously existing Arabic-language compilation. In fact, several compilations of ḥadīth on the afterlife exist, but none seem to closely resemble the work at hand. For instance, the famous 15th-century scholar of Islamic law, Jalāl al-Dīn al-Suyūṭī, compiled ḥadīth relating to the obligatory prayers and rituals surrounding death and the state of the body in the grave, in a work entitled Bushrā al-Ka’īb bi-Liqā’ al-Ḥabīb and in a further work, the Sharḥ al-Ṣudūr fī Sharḥ Ḥāl al-Mawtā fī al-Qubūr. Al-Suyūṭī authored a separate work that focused on eschatological concerns; however, these ḥadīth are gathered in a separate volume unconnected with the previous ones, called al-Budūr al-Sāfirah. We shall see that this approach to separating ḥadīth on funerary practice from ḥadīth on the apocalypse and day of judgement is entirely different to the approach taken by Ghulām Muḥammad al-Satirkhī in his work.
 

Part of the table of contents of the Kitāb Akhbār al-Ma‘ād by Ghulām Muḥammad al-Satirkhī (Delhi Persian 44, f 3r)

The Kitāb Akhbār al-Ma‘ād, in contrast to other ḥadīth compilations on similar topics, is much wider in scope. In addition to encompassing ḥadīth on rituals, funerary prayers, and the body in the grave, it also addresses questions on the apocalypse and last judgement. The author rarely cites the source of his ḥadīth, but when he does, it is typically one of the canonical Sunni ḥadīth collections (the six canonical ḥadīth collections and the musānid). While he gives the name of the first transmitter from among the companions of the prophet, he does not provide a full isnād (chain of tranmission). The work opens with the well-known ḥadīth that (among other things) it is obligatory for the Muslim to walk in the funeral procession of another Muslim, and continues to discuss how the body should be washed and wrapped in the shroud, along with similar issues of religious practice and legal requirement.

However, what is interesting about the Kitāb Akhbār al-Ma‘ād is that it expands into more esoteric topics in the second half of the work, attempting a universal scope when dealing with the hereafter. It addresses not just the obligatory actions and prayers of the Muslim surrounding death but also includes ḥadīth on barzakh, the liminal area between this world and the next, and numerous ḥadīth and tales associated with the apocalypse and end of days in the Islamic tradition. After the detailed description of the apocalypse - including the appearance of the anti-Christ (the Dajjāl) and Gog and Magog (Jūj and Mājūj) - the author presents several ḥadīth on how humans will be judged, and describes the characteristics of those who will dwell in heaven or hell.

Beyond its status as a manuscript of royal patronage that has previously not received scholarly attention, the work is of note for its wide selection of ḥadīth on all aspects of eschatology. It remains to be established whether the work represents a truly unique approach to the topic of the afterlife, or whether the author based his work in part on previous compilations. While it has been established that the author did not rely on al-Suyūṭī’s many compilations, a detailed study of the numerous ḥadīth collections on the afterlife would be required before drawing any firm conclusions (I am writing an article on this manuscript and its comparison with similar compilations – so watch this space for more information!). However, if we take the preface and conclusion of the manuscript at face value, in which the author claims that he was ordered by Aurangzeb to construct this compilation, we should ask why the emperor was interested in an all-embracing approach to everything dealing with death and the afterlife, from the wrapping of the corpse in the shroud until the final trumpet heralding the last judgement, and why, for that matter, he saw fit to order not only the compilation of this material, but also its translation and exegesis in Persian.
 

The Arabic introduction to Kitāb Akhbār al-Ma‘ād, mentioning the patronage of the Emperor Aurangzeb (Delhi Persian 44, f 2v)


The manuscript is dated 1089 AH/ 1678 AD, the same year that al-Satirkhī completed the work, so Aurangzeb (born in 1618 AD), would have been sixty years old when it was written. Based on pure speculation, could impending old age have spurred a greater interest in the afterlife, causing Aurangzeb to commission such a work? The author, in the preface, states that Aurangzeb's wish was to lead those who were negligent in their religion back to the staight path - so perhaps the extremely educated and pious emperor intended this work for a general audience rather than his own private reading.  Or perhaps he had a particular person in mind, a relative he viewed as 'straying from the path' and wanted to frighten back into line with a book about threats of torture in the afterlife. For the moment, it remains a mystery, but watch this blog for more akhbār of the ma‘ād.

Further reading
Jalāl al-Dīn al-Suyūṭī. Bushrā al-Ka’īb bi-Liqā al-Ḥabīb ed. Mashhūr Ḥasan Maḥmūd Sulaymān (Jordan: Maktabat al-Manār, 1988)
Jane Idleman Smith and Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad. The Islamic Understanding of Death and Resurrection (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002)
Mujībullāh Nadvī. Fatāva-yi ʻĀlamgīrī ke muʾallifīn (Lāhaur: Markaz-i Taḥqīq-i Diyāl Singh Ṭrasṭ Lāʾibrerī, [1988])

Nur Sobers-Khan, Asian and African Studies

Follow us on Twitter @BLAsia_Africa

Karnama-i ‘Ishq (Book of affairs of love) by the Hindu poet Rai Anand Ram Mukhlis (d. 1751) is a romance in Persian on the afflictions of a young man’s heart and the challenges he faces for eternal love. The poetical narrative is derived from an existing Hindi literary work, the exact source for which Mukhlis omitted to mention. Mukhlis, a disciple of the eminent poet Mirza Bedil, was attached to the Mughal court in Delhi, acting as a vakil (representative) for governors including Vazir I’timad al-Daula Qamar al-Din Khan (d. 1748). Based in the capital, he was a key witness of the events that led to the eventual decline of the empire including the invasion of Nadir Shah in 1739.

This presentation copy of the Karnama-i ‘Ishq was copied by the scribe Harkulall and is dated 25 Safar 1148/17 July 1735. The text is accompanied by thirty-eight illustrations by the artist Govardhan II along with a note on the flyleaf dated 1151/1738–9, recording that it took Govardhan five years to complete these miniatures.

The story unfolds with King Shahryar praying for the birth of a son. He hears from fakirs news of a young woman whom he will marry and who will conceive a child, although he is warned that at a mature age the son will fall in love and consequentially become mentally unsound.

Prince Gauhar on a hunting expedition
By Govardhan II, 1734-9
British Library, Johnson Album 38, f.29v

At the age of 14 Prince Gauhar, the son of King Shahryar, takes a detour during a hunting expedition. In the distance he observes a graceful gazelle that has the head of a beautiful woman. He chases after her. Instead of catching up with the gazelle, he encounters a young man named Khiradmand.

Prince Gauhar and his companion Khiradmand surviving the storm
By Govardhan II, 1734-9
British Library, Johnson Album 38, f.42v

The hand of the beautiful gazelle, who is really Princess Malika-i Zamani, can only be won by securing fruit from a mythical tree of emerald leaves and ruby flowers. Gauhar accompanied by Khiradmand embark on their journey faced by challenges including a storm at sea, imprisonment, and the island of the Fairy Queen Lal. In this illustration, adminst the chaos and a sea monster, Gauhar and Khiradmand appear calm as they drift on a plank of wood.

Prince Gauhar and Khiradmand rescued by the simurgh
By Govardhan II, 1734-9
British Library, Johnson Album 38, f.51r

Marriage procession of Prince Gauhar
By Govardhan II, 1734-9
British Library, Johnson Album 38, f.105v

After finding the mythical tree and securing the fruit, Gauhar asks the neighbouring king for the hand of Malika-i Zamani. This scene features the elaborate marriage procession of Prince Gauhar, on horseback, on his way to his wedding. In the final scenes of this manuscript, Gauhar and Malika-i Zamani are married and of course live happily ever after!

Govardhan II, the sole artist of this manuscript, was one of the pre-eminent artists affiliated to Muhammad Shah’s atelier and predominantly painted scenes of princes and princesses languishing on terraces. His style is consistent and distinct from the work of his contemporaries. Female characters are always drawn as a specific type with heavy stippling, petal-shaped eyes (as characterized by Smart and Walker) and trim figures. The manner in which their transparent veils (odhani) are pictured displays his exceptional talent: these sheer pieces of cloth with gold trim fall in delicate waves over their heads. Of the eighteenth-century artists affiliated to emperor Muhammad Shah’s court, he is the only known artist to collaborate with a scribe to produce an imperial-quality manuscript. In addition to scenes of the romance, this manuscript also features a portrait of Muhammad Shah (ruled 1719-48) bestowing a turban jewel on Qamar al-Din Khan.

Karnama-i 'Ishq can be viewed by appointment in the British Library's Print Room, located in the Asian and African Studies Reading Room.

Further reading:

J.P. Losty and M. Roy, Mughal India: Art, Culture and Empire, British Library, 2012

E. Smart and D. Walker, Pride of the Princes: Indian Art of the Mughal era in the Cincinnati Art Museum, 1985

T. Falk and M. Archer, Indian Miniatures in the India Office Library, Sotheby Parke Barnet, 1981

Malini Roy, Visual Arts Curator

As an American living in London, each year I feel a slight bit of nostalgia on the 4th of July for fireworks, enjoying a barbeque and of course having the day off. Instead of watching the fireworks, today I write about my favourite scenes relating to fireworks painted in South Asia from the Visual Arts collection. 

 
The night of Shab-i-barāt. Style of Govardhan, Mughal (Delhi) c.1735-40. 
Opaque watercolour and gold on paper.
British Library, Johnson Album 20,2

The night of Shab-i-barāt, the fourteenth day of the month of Sha‘bān of the Islamic calendar, is an auspicious occasion. The evening is celebrated with fireworks, feasting and prayers in the names of ancestors. On this evening, the affairs of the living for the forthcoming year are arranged by God. In this scene, a Mughal lady standing on a terrace lets off a firework. In the background, the distant river bank is illuminated by burning fireworks. 

The Mughal Emperor Jahangir describes the celebration of Shab-i-barāt in August 1617:  'In the end of Thursday, the 26th, corresponding with the 14th Sha‘bān, which is the Shab-i-barāt, I held a meeting in one of the houses of the palace of Nūr-Jahān Begam, which was situated in the midst of large tanks, and summoning the Amirs and courtiers to the feast which had been prepared by the Begam, I ordered them to give the people cups and all kinds of intoxicating drinks according to the desire of each. Many asked for cups, and I ordered that whoever drank a cup should sit according to his mansab and condition. All sorts of roast meats, and fruits by way of relish, were ordered to be placed before everyone. It was a wonderful assembly. In the beginning of the evening they lighted lanterns and lamps all round the tanks and buildings, and a lighting up was carried out the like of which has perhaps never been arranged in any place. The lanterns and lamps cast their reflection on the water, and it appeared as if the whole surface of the tank was a plain of fire. A grand entertainment took place, and the drinkers of cups took more cups than they could carry.'

A drawing of a ‘Maker of Fireworks’ by an anonymous Calcutta artist, c.1794-1804
Watercolour on paper
British Library, Add.Or.1115

This scene of a firework maker is from a series depicting trades and occupations produced for the Marquis Wellesley when he was the Governor-General of India. The style of this painting and the rest of the series are painted in the Company style, referring to the hybrid style that emerged in India during the 18th and 19th centuries as a result of European influence and patronage. Wellesley, an active collector and patron of Indian art, also commissioned series of Natural History drawings as well. This watercolour is part of an album that was purchased by the India Office Library on 16 August 1866.

Illuminations and fireworks round the lake at Constantia by Sita Ram, 1814-15 
Watercolour on paper, 37 x 48 cm
British Library, Add.Or.4752

This watercolours and the following are from the Hastings Albums, a collection of ten albums of watercolours primarily painted by the Indian artist Sita Ram. The artist accompanied Lord Moira (afterwards Marquess Hastings), the Governor-General of Bengal and the Commander-in-Chief (1813-23) on a journey from Calcutta to Delhi in the period 1814-15. This series includes scenes of elaborate illuminations and firework displays lit on important occasions.

Constantia or La Martinière was built by Claude Martin in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, during the late 18th century. Martin, originally from Lyon, France enlisted with the British East India Company. In Lucknow, his services as an architect were in great demand and he designed several notable buildings including Constantia. Originally intended to be used as a private residence, it is now used as a school for boys. This scene features the ground with a column, a memorial to Claude Martin, which was still under construction when he died in 1800. Inscribed below: 'Illumination at Constantia on the receiving news of Peace in Europe' (2nd November 1814).

 
The grounds of the palace of Farhat Baksh in Lucknow lit by innumerable coloured lamps by Sita Ram, 1814-15 
Watercolour on paper, 38 x 50 cm
British Library, Add.Or.4760

Claude Martin’s villa, Farhat Baksh, also in Lucknow, was designed by the Frenchman in 1781. Martin applied a hybrid of classical, neo-Palladian and the Nawabi styles to create his villa.  After Martin's death, the local governor Nawab Saadat Ali Khan of Awadh (ruled 1798-1814) purchased the villa, renaming it Farhat Baksh and constructed several additions to transform it into a palace. This view shows the grounds of the palace of Farhat Bakhsh in Lucknow lit by innumerable coloured lamps, with transparencies of female figures attached to the pavilions and railings and illuminated behind, and with fireworks. On the terrace of the palace of Farhat Bakhsh, the Nawab and his guests stand admiring the illuminations, while crowds of onlookers stand in front. Inscribed below: 'View of the Illuminations at the palace of Furruh Bukhsh, 1814'. The rows of figures and the elephants facing away from the viewer adds to the drama of the sky lit up at night.

Malini Roy, Visual Arts Curator 
  

Follow on Twitter @BL_VisualArts

Further reading:

T. Falk and M. Archer, Indian Miniatures in the India Office Library, Sotheby Parke Bernet, 1981

Jahangir, Henry Beveridge, and Alexander Rogers. The Tuzuk-I-Jahangiri; Or, Memoirs of Jahangir. Translated by Alexander Rogers. Edited by Henry Beveridge. London: Royal Asiatic Society, 1909. p.385

J.P. Losty, "The Great Gun at Agra", 'British Library Journal', v. 15, 1989, pp.35-58

J.P. Losty and M. Roy, Mughal India: Art, Culture and Empire, British Library, 2012