AN INTERWEAVING OF CULTURES: ILLUSTRATED BY INDIAN PAINTINGS AND DRAWINGS OF THE MUGHAL, RAJPUT AND DECCANI SCHOOLS

In 1526 the founder of the Mughal Empire, Babur - a descendent on his father’s side of the Turkman Timur “the lame” - best known to westerners as Tamerlane - and, on his mother’s side, of the Mongol Emperor Genghis Khan - completely destroyed the army of Sultan Ibrahim of Delhi. With a mere 5,000 troops vs. the Sultan’s 100,000, an estimated 40 to 50 thousand of Ibrahim’s soldiers were killed in a matter of hours, as you will read, as was he.

Within a year, Babur and his fast-growing army of Turkmen, Mongols, Persians, mercenary troops from around the world - and well-rewarded Indians - ruled most of northern India. By the mid 1600s Babur’s great-great grandson Shah Jahan was widely recognized as the richest man in the world, as was his usurping son, Aurangzeb - until his treasury was divided among his three sons after his death in 1707.

Meanwhile, independent Rajput and Deccani rulers were not far behind the Mughal Emperors in terms of wealth - and in terms of “conspicuous consumption.” By the mid 1700s India produced an estimated 25 percent of all of the world’s manufactured goods by value. And, much like the Italian Renaissance rulers who lavishly patronized the arts, most of the Indian Rulers adopted the kitabkhana system - where large groups of highly skilled artists and artisans were maintained to produce the vast array of paintings, elaborate textiles, jewels, illuminated manuscripts, beautiful palaces inlaid with precious stones and a host of other luxury goods the rulers coveted and grandly showed off as symbols of their boundless power - and claims of actual Godhood.

It is this “interweaving of cultures” - and the striking cross-pollinating effects on the arts and culture of India, as illustrated so beautifully by the artworks shown here that inspired this book and will, we hope, inform and surprise readers about this all too little noted empire - while providing a feast for their eyes.