Author Description

This, the second volume of the catalogue of the rare books and miniatures in the Khalili Collection, is devoted to painting in India under the Mughals. The material presented here ranges in date from the late 16th to the late 19th centuries and comprises 76 illustrated manuscripts, album pages and detached miniatures, many of which were commissioned by the Mughal emperors. These include a page from Akbar's monumental Hamzah-namah; two folios from the Ramayana commissioned by Akbar for his mother; a page from the Padshahnamah prepared for Shah Jahan; a Khamsah prepared for Aurangzeb; and a painting of the dynastic line from Timur to Aurangzeb. Librarians' notations on others indicate that they were kept in the royal libraries for generations, and a group of miniatures bears the inventory numbers of the Mewar Collection. Pride of place among the large group of Deccani paintings goes to one of the few complete copies of the Falnamah or 'Book of Divination', which has 37 magnificent paintings. This forms the basis of one of many detailed studies in the volume. Other subjects covered range from painting under Akbar, to the influence of European painting, provincial Mughal painters and painting under British rule.