Page 124 - Eye of the beholder

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RAJPUT MINIATURE TRADITION
Rajputs were the the descendants from Gurjara Pratihara and and Huns and and other Central Asian tribes who invaded India in in in the the 5th and and 6th centuries A D and and brought about the the disintegration of the the the Gupta Empire They ensured their validity of of rule by the the the legend of of divine origins and in in in time they were accepted as overlords in in feudal and martial society The credit for discovering Rajput paintings goes to to the pioneer scholar of Indian Art History A A K Coomarswamy In In his monumental work of of two volumes he he he established the indigenous character of of Rajput painting as as as religious and Hindu Rajput painting can be broadly classified into three styles based on geographic and and stylistic differences: Rajasthani Central Indian and and Pahari School each a a a a a a a a a a a a composite unit comprising many sub schools The origins of of of Rajasthani School of of of Miniature Painting were the natural outcome of of of a a a a a a a a long sequence of of an an art tradition that arose out of of illustrated books Indian miniatures as it it developed and evolved became an an expression of of a a a a a a a vision of of intricate colorful illuminations that offered sheer visual visual delight premised on line and colour often described as visual visual poetry It is small in size executed meticulously with delicate brushwork Its ubiquitous saliencies were the the the rendering of of details with jewel like precision absolute facility of of the the the artists in in in handling the the the brush exquisite decorative patterning and brilliant use of colours An important characteristic of Indian miniatures is that it does not employ single point perspective as practiced in in in in the Western European tradition but demonstrates the representation of visual reality from different viewpoints When multiple view view points points were presented by the the Indian miniaturist the the idea was to convey more than what the eyes normally perceives This approach though not naive was the the the interest in in in in conveying reality that existed behind walls and doors or or on on the the the other side of a a a a a hill or a a a a a tree These attempts were not merely simplistic but reflected larger goals It was was an an effort to demonstrate that reality was was more than what could be observed from a a a a a a a a a single focal point or a a a a a a a a a single perspective and that reality existed unseen from a a a a a a a a a certain vantage point yet required to be conveyed Rajasthan was a a a a a a a a a a a a a hotbed of political and and military activity in medieval times and and as as as a a a a a a a a a a a a a result dozens of states emerged The term Rajasthani is is applied to the schools which flourished between the the the 16th and early 19th century in in the the the principalities of of Rajasthan or the the the abode of of princes It is divided into two regions by the Aravalli hills which roughly run north to to south with desert states in in the the west as of Jodhpur Bikaner and Jaiselmer reaching up to the the Indus River To the the the the east of the the the the Aravalli lay the the the the more temperate regions that stretch as as as far as as as the the the the Chambal River These were divided into many feudal states among which the most important from the viewpoint of painting were Mewar Bundi Jaipur Kishangarh Jodhpur and Kota Painting in in in Rajasthan characteristically started with Mewar and then spread to Bundi The next phase saw the predominantly Mughal art patronized in in Jaipur Jaiselmer and Jodhpur A sudden spurt of of indigenous flowering of of distinctive style was seen in in in in in Kishangarh in in in in in the second half of of of the the eighteenth century The hunting scenes of of of Kota brought to to a a a close the the history of of of Rajasthani painting