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Early Miniatures
Pala school 750 CE to the mid–twelfth century.
Related to Buddhism, centers like Nalanda and
Vikramsila.
Use of palm leaves and mostly belong to the
Vajrayana School.
Astasahasrika Prajnaparamita (‘Perfection of
Wisdom’)
Characterised by sinuous line and subdued tones
of colour.
Apabhramsa Gujarat, Rajasthan and Malwa.
School
Inspired by the ideals of Jainism.
Mainly Patronized by Chalukya Dynasty.
Early one on palm leaf and then on paper.
Reduced dimension Murals.
Kalpasutra and Kalakacharya-Katha are popular.
Miniatures of South India
Special decorative paintings.
GI TAG Mostly created on glass and wooden planks.
Tanjore Brilliant use of colour and liberal use of gold.
Paintings
Maratha patronage and mainly under Maharaja
Serfoji II.
Depiction of Hindu gods and goddesses.
GI TAG One figure predominates all the others.
Mysore
Painting Use the ‘gesso paste’.
Regional Paintings
Mewar Depiction of Ragamala, the Ramayana and the
School Bhagavata Purana.
Tamasha paintings
Later became secular and courtly.
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Amber-Jai- Also known as ‘Dhundar’ school.
pur School
Palace walls and mausoleum of Amer Palace in
Rajasthan.
Themes like Bhagwata Purana, Ramayana,
Ragamala.
Marwar Region of Jodhpur and Bikaner.
School
Colourful clothing.
Themes like Shiva Purana, Natacharitra,
Durgacharitra, Panchtantra, etc.
Kishangarh School and Bundi School are its
sub-school.
Kishangarh Devotional and amorous relations between Radha
and Krishna (Bani thani)
School
Features like long necks, arched eyebrows, thin
lips and wide eyes, and adorned with jewellery
Bundi School Krishna-bhakti plays.
Manuscript of the Bhagawata Purana.
Element of naturalism.
Kotah School Quite similar to Bundi school.
Themes of tiger and bear hunt were very popular
at Kotah.
Krishna Bhakti reflected.
Bundi and Kota are also referred to as Hadoti
School.
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Pahari Paintings
Earliest centre of painting in the Pahari region.
GI TAG Patronage of Raja Kripal Pal.
Basohli Devidasa executed miniatures in the form of the
School Rasamanjari.
Vigorous and bold line and strong glowing colours
Guler School Extension of Basohli style to Jammu.
Portraits of Raja Balwant Singh of Jasrota.
New naturalistic paintings with soft and cool
colours
The third phase of the Pahari painting. Developed
GI TAG out of the Guler style.
Kangra Possessed delicacy of drawing and quality of
School naturalism.
Portraits of Raja Sansar Chand of Kangra.
Kulu-Mandi Folk style of painting in the Kulu-Mandi area.
school
Bold drawing and the use of dark and dull colours
Folk Painting
Bihar
Geometric patterns and use two-dimensional imag-
GI TAG ery.
Madhubani Depicts scenes from Hindu epics.
or Mithila Symbolic figures like fish for good luck and fertility,
Paintings etc.
Natural objects like sun, moon and sacred plants
are common.
Paint is made from a powdered rice paste and
coloured with natural dyes and pigments.
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Pattachitra Odisha
Painting
Inspired from Jagannath and Vaishnava cult. Paint-
ers are known as chitrakar.
Mix of classical and folk elements.
Base is treated cloth and natural colours used.
Pattachitra on palm leaf is known as talapattachi-
tra
Patua Art Bengal
Mangal Kavyas tradition.
Pats or scrolls for paintings.
Story telling through paintings.
Present day usage for political and social issues.
Huge inclusion of Muslim community.
Paitkar Jharkhand
Painting
Scroll paintings by Tribal.
Cultural association with Ma Mansa.
Common theme is ‘human life post death’.
Andhra Pradesh
Pen (Kalam) and craftsmanship (Kari).
GI TAG
Kalamkari Sharp pointed bamboo used.
Paintings Base is cotton fabric.
Vegetable dyes colours.
Existed from Vijayanagara Empire
Gujarat-Maharashtra
Ancient tribal art 2500-3000 BC.
Ritualistic paintings.
GI TAG
Warli Scenes portraying fishing, hunting, farming,
dances, animals, trees and festivals.
Painting
Traditionally done on walls, with Geometric
symbols like triangle, a circle and a square.
Base made up from mud, cow dung, etc.
Painted by white pigment, made of a mixture of
gum and rice powder
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Thangka Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh, Ladakh, etc
Painting
Related to Buddhism.
Base of cotton canvas.
Significance of colours like Red for intensity of
passion, white for serenity, black depicts anger,
green represents consciousness.
Manjusha Bihar
Painting or
Snake painting.
Angika art
Executed on boxes of jute and paper.
Related to Anga Mahajanpada.
2019
Q.4. Who among the following Mughal Emperors shifted
emphasis from illustrated manuscripts to album and
individual portrait?
(a) Humayun
(b) Akbar
(c) Jahangir
(d) Shah Jahan
ANSWER C
Explanation
The Mughal rule was established in India by Babar in 1526. The art of painting was initiated in Humayun's
time. It was carried further by Emperor Akbar in a big way. It was in the time of Jahangir the superb art
works turned out. Shahajahan also promoted the art of painting along with his architectural venture.
Babur had a keen eye on portraiture and this is also recorded in his memoirs.
Humayun invited two Persian artists—Mir Sayyid Ali and Abd us Samad to establish a studio in his court
and carry out royal paintings. . He founded the Nigaar Khana (painting workshop), which was also a part
of his library. it is known that he started the project of illustration of Hamza Nama that was continued by
his son and successor Akbar.