History of Indian Art (Medieval, Mughal, and Rajput)
Scope
Medieval, Mughal and Rajput art includes Sultanate, Deccan, Mughal miniature painting, and Rajput and Pahari schools. The exam tests court patronage, manuscript projects, artists, materials and regional style.
Mughal painting
Akbar established the imperial studio; the Hamzanama (from about 1562) was first on cloth, then paper, with artists such as Basawan, Daswanth and Miskin. The Akbarnama and Razmnama show narrative crowding and European perspective. Jahangir prized naturalism and portraiture: Ustad Mansur's birds and Abul Hasan's court scenes. Shah Jahan favoured formal, jewel-like durbar scenes; Aurangzeb withdrew patronage.
Rajput and Pahari
Rajput courts (Mewar, Bundi, Kishangarh, Jaipur) used flat colour, bold profiles and poetic subjects such as ragamala, baramasa and nayika. Kishangarh's Bani Thani has exaggerated features. Pahari schools (Basohli, Guler, Kangra) moved from bold beetles'-wing green and red to lyrical naturalism; Kangra's Krishna themes are celebrated.
Worked example
A folio from the Akbarnama shows a crowded battle with a high horizon and European-style recession. Reasoning: the high horizon and overlapping figures create depth; the crowded composition asserts imperial power; the use of European perspective shows Akbar's studio absorbing foreign prints. Naming Basawan and the Akbarnama earns credit; merely calling it 'Mughal' does not.
Traps
Do not date the Hamzanama to Jahangir. Mughal naturalism peaks under Jahangir, not Akbar. Rajput is not one style: Mewar, Kishangarh and Kangra differ sharply. Pahari is not Mughal; it is a regional, often Hindu, court tradition.