NCERT Textbook - The Rajasthani Schools of Painting | Fine Arts for Grade 12 PDF Download

 Page 1


The Rajasthani Schools of Painting
2
T
he term ‘Rajasthani Schools of Painting’ pertains to 
the schools of painting that prevailed in the princely 
kingdoms and thikanas of what roughly constitutes Rajasthan 
and parts of Madhya Pradesh in the present time, such as 
Mewar, Bundi, Kota, Jaipur, Bikaner, Kishangarh, Jodhpur 
(Marwar), Malwa, Sirohi and other such principalities largely 
between the sixteenth and early nineteenth centuries. 
Scholar Anand Coomaraswamy in 1916 coined the term 
‘Rajput Paintings’ to refer to these as most rulers and patrons 
of these kingdoms were Rajputs.  He, specifically, coined it to 
categorise and differentiate this group from the much known 
Mughal School of Painting. Therefore, Malwa, comprising 
princedoms of Central India, and the Pahari Schools that 
comprises the pahari or mountainous Himalayan region of 
north-western India was also in the ambit of Rajput Schools. 
For Coomaraswamy, the nomenclature represented the 
indigenous tradition of painting prevalent in the mainland 
before the conquest by the Mughals. Studies in Indian 
paintings have come a long way since then and the term 
‘Rajput Schools’ is obsolete. Instead, specific categories, 
such as Rajasthani and Pahari are employed.
Though separated by short distances, the pictorial 
styles that emerged and evolved in these kingdoms were 
significantly diverse in terms of either execution — fine or 
bold; preference of colours (brilliant or gentle); compositional 
elements (depiction of architecture, figures and nature); 
modes of narration; affinity for naturalism — or had emphasis 
on extreme mannerism.
Paintings were painted on waslis — layered, thin sheets of 
handmade papers glued together to get the desired thickness. 
The outline was sketched on waslis in black or brown 
followed by colours fixed therein by brief notations or sample 
patches. Colour pigments were predominantly obtained from 
minerals and precious metals like gold and silver that were 
mixed with glue as the binding medium. Camel and squirrel 
1_2.Rajashtani Painting.indd   10 01 Sep 2020   02:13:31 PM
Rationalised 2023-24
Page 2


The Rajasthani Schools of Painting
2
T
he term ‘Rajasthani Schools of Painting’ pertains to 
the schools of painting that prevailed in the princely 
kingdoms and thikanas of what roughly constitutes Rajasthan 
and parts of Madhya Pradesh in the present time, such as 
Mewar, Bundi, Kota, Jaipur, Bikaner, Kishangarh, Jodhpur 
(Marwar), Malwa, Sirohi and other such principalities largely 
between the sixteenth and early nineteenth centuries. 
Scholar Anand Coomaraswamy in 1916 coined the term 
‘Rajput Paintings’ to refer to these as most rulers and patrons 
of these kingdoms were Rajputs.  He, specifically, coined it to 
categorise and differentiate this group from the much known 
Mughal School of Painting. Therefore, Malwa, comprising 
princedoms of Central India, and the Pahari Schools that 
comprises the pahari or mountainous Himalayan region of 
north-western India was also in the ambit of Rajput Schools. 
For Coomaraswamy, the nomenclature represented the 
indigenous tradition of painting prevalent in the mainland 
before the conquest by the Mughals. Studies in Indian 
paintings have come a long way since then and the term 
‘Rajput Schools’ is obsolete. Instead, specific categories, 
such as Rajasthani and Pahari are employed.
Though separated by short distances, the pictorial 
styles that emerged and evolved in these kingdoms were 
significantly diverse in terms of either execution — fine or 
bold; preference of colours (brilliant or gentle); compositional 
elements (depiction of architecture, figures and nature); 
modes of narration; affinity for naturalism — or had emphasis 
on extreme mannerism.
Paintings were painted on waslis — layered, thin sheets of 
handmade papers glued together to get the desired thickness. 
The outline was sketched on waslis in black or brown 
followed by colours fixed therein by brief notations or sample 
patches. Colour pigments were predominantly obtained from 
minerals and precious metals like gold and silver that were 
mixed with glue as the binding medium. Camel and squirrel 
1_2.Rajashtani Painting.indd   10 01 Sep 2020   02:13:31 PM
Rationalised 2023-24
The RajasThani s chools of PainTing 11
hair were used in brushes. On completion, the painting was 
burnished with an agate to lend it a uniform sheen and an 
appealing resplendence.
The painting activity was a kind of teamwork, with the 
master artist composing and doing preliminary drawings, 
followed by pupils or experts of colouring, portraiture, 
architecture, landscape, animals, etc., taking over and doing 
their bit, and finally, the master artist putting the finishing 
touches. The scribe would write the verse in the space left 
for the one.
Themes of Paintings – An Overview
By the sixteenth century, Vaishvanism in the cults of Rama 
and Krishna had become popular in many parts of western, 
northern and central India as part of the Bhakti movement 
that had swept the entire Indian subcontinent. Krishna had 
a special appeal. He was not only worshipped as God but 
also as an ideal lover. The notion of ‘love’ was cherished as a 
religious theme, where a delightful synthesis of sensuousness 
and mysticism was perceived. Krishna was perceived as the 
Krishna and gopis in the forest, 
Gita Govinda, Mewar, 1550, 
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj 
Vastu Sangrahalaya,  Mumbai
1_2.Rajashtani Painting.indd   11 01 Sep 2020   02:13:31 PM
Rationalised 2023-24
Page 3


The Rajasthani Schools of Painting
2
T
he term ‘Rajasthani Schools of Painting’ pertains to 
the schools of painting that prevailed in the princely 
kingdoms and thikanas of what roughly constitutes Rajasthan 
and parts of Madhya Pradesh in the present time, such as 
Mewar, Bundi, Kota, Jaipur, Bikaner, Kishangarh, Jodhpur 
(Marwar), Malwa, Sirohi and other such principalities largely 
between the sixteenth and early nineteenth centuries. 
Scholar Anand Coomaraswamy in 1916 coined the term 
‘Rajput Paintings’ to refer to these as most rulers and patrons 
of these kingdoms were Rajputs.  He, specifically, coined it to 
categorise and differentiate this group from the much known 
Mughal School of Painting. Therefore, Malwa, comprising 
princedoms of Central India, and the Pahari Schools that 
comprises the pahari or mountainous Himalayan region of 
north-western India was also in the ambit of Rajput Schools. 
For Coomaraswamy, the nomenclature represented the 
indigenous tradition of painting prevalent in the mainland 
before the conquest by the Mughals. Studies in Indian 
paintings have come a long way since then and the term 
‘Rajput Schools’ is obsolete. Instead, specific categories, 
such as Rajasthani and Pahari are employed.
Though separated by short distances, the pictorial 
styles that emerged and evolved in these kingdoms were 
significantly diverse in terms of either execution — fine or 
bold; preference of colours (brilliant or gentle); compositional 
elements (depiction of architecture, figures and nature); 
modes of narration; affinity for naturalism — or had emphasis 
on extreme mannerism.
Paintings were painted on waslis — layered, thin sheets of 
handmade papers glued together to get the desired thickness. 
The outline was sketched on waslis in black or brown 
followed by colours fixed therein by brief notations or sample 
patches. Colour pigments were predominantly obtained from 
minerals and precious metals like gold and silver that were 
mixed with glue as the binding medium. Camel and squirrel 
1_2.Rajashtani Painting.indd   10 01 Sep 2020   02:13:31 PM
Rationalised 2023-24
The RajasThani s chools of PainTing 11
hair were used in brushes. On completion, the painting was 
burnished with an agate to lend it a uniform sheen and an 
appealing resplendence.
The painting activity was a kind of teamwork, with the 
master artist composing and doing preliminary drawings, 
followed by pupils or experts of colouring, portraiture, 
architecture, landscape, animals, etc., taking over and doing 
their bit, and finally, the master artist putting the finishing 
touches. The scribe would write the verse in the space left 
for the one.
Themes of Paintings – An Overview
By the sixteenth century, Vaishvanism in the cults of Rama 
and Krishna had become popular in many parts of western, 
northern and central India as part of the Bhakti movement 
that had swept the entire Indian subcontinent. Krishna had 
a special appeal. He was not only worshipped as God but 
also as an ideal lover. The notion of ‘love’ was cherished as a 
religious theme, where a delightful synthesis of sensuousness 
and mysticism was perceived. Krishna was perceived as the 
Krishna and gopis in the forest, 
Gita Govinda, Mewar, 1550, 
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj 
Vastu Sangrahalaya,  Mumbai
1_2.Rajashtani Painting.indd   11 01 Sep 2020   02:13:31 PM
Rationalised 2023-24
12 a n i nTRoducTion To i ndian a RT —PaRT ii creator from whom all creation was a sportive emanation, 
and Radha, the human soul who led to offer herself to 
God. The soul’s devotion to the deity is pictured by Radha’s 
self-abandonment to her beloved Krishna epitomised in  
Gita Govinda paintings.
Composed in the twelfth century by Jayadeva, who is 
believed to have been the court poet of Lakshmana Sen of 
Bengal, Gita Govinda, the ‘Song of the Cowherd’, is a lyrical 
poem in Sanskrit, evoking shringara rasa, portraying the 
mystical love between Radha and Krishna through worldly 
imageries. Bhanu Datta, a Maithil Brahmin who lived in 
Bihar in the fourteenth century, composed another favourite 
text of artists, Rasamanjari, interpreted as the ‘Bouquet of 
Delight’. Written in Sanskrit, the text is a treatise on rasa 
and deals with the classification of heroes (nayakas) and 
heroines (nayikas) in accordance with their age — baal, taruna 
and praudha; physiognomic traits of appearance, such as 
padmini, chitrini, shankhini, hastini, etc., and emotional 
states, such as khandita, vasaksajja, abhisarika, utka, etc. 
Though Krishna is not mentioned in the text, painters have 
introduced him as the archetypal lover.
Rasikapriya, translated as ‘The Connoisseur’s Delight’, 
is replete with complex poetic interpretations and was 
composed to incite aesthetic pleasure to elite courtiers. 
Composed in Brajbhasha by Keshav Das, the court poet 
of Raja Madhukar Shah of Orchha in 1591, Rasikapriya 
explores various emotive states, such as love, togetherness, 
jilt, jealousy, quarrel and its aftermath, separation, anger, 
etc., that are common between lovers represented through 
the characters of Radha and Krishna.
Kavipriya, another poetic work by Keshav Das, was 
written in the honour of Rai Parbin, a celebrated courtesan 
of Orchha. It is a tale of love and its tenth chapter evocatively 
titled Baramasa engages with the most enduring climactic 
description of the 12 months of the year. While illustrating 
the daily life of people in different seasons and alluding to 
festivals falling therein, Keshav Das describes how the nayika 
prevails upon the nayaka not to leave her and proceed on 
a journey.
Bihari Satsai, authored by Bihari Lal, constituting 700 
verses (satsai), is composed in the form of aphorisms and 
moralising witticism. It is largely held that he composed 
the Satsai around 1662 while he was at the court of Jaipur 
1_2.Rajashtani Painting.indd   12 01 Sep 2020   02:13:31 PM
Rationalised 2023-24
Page 4


The Rajasthani Schools of Painting
2
T
he term ‘Rajasthani Schools of Painting’ pertains to 
the schools of painting that prevailed in the princely 
kingdoms and thikanas of what roughly constitutes Rajasthan 
and parts of Madhya Pradesh in the present time, such as 
Mewar, Bundi, Kota, Jaipur, Bikaner, Kishangarh, Jodhpur 
(Marwar), Malwa, Sirohi and other such principalities largely 
between the sixteenth and early nineteenth centuries. 
Scholar Anand Coomaraswamy in 1916 coined the term 
‘Rajput Paintings’ to refer to these as most rulers and patrons 
of these kingdoms were Rajputs.  He, specifically, coined it to 
categorise and differentiate this group from the much known 
Mughal School of Painting. Therefore, Malwa, comprising 
princedoms of Central India, and the Pahari Schools that 
comprises the pahari or mountainous Himalayan region of 
north-western India was also in the ambit of Rajput Schools. 
For Coomaraswamy, the nomenclature represented the 
indigenous tradition of painting prevalent in the mainland 
before the conquest by the Mughals. Studies in Indian 
paintings have come a long way since then and the term 
‘Rajput Schools’ is obsolete. Instead, specific categories, 
such as Rajasthani and Pahari are employed.
Though separated by short distances, the pictorial 
styles that emerged and evolved in these kingdoms were 
significantly diverse in terms of either execution — fine or 
bold; preference of colours (brilliant or gentle); compositional 
elements (depiction of architecture, figures and nature); 
modes of narration; affinity for naturalism — or had emphasis 
on extreme mannerism.
Paintings were painted on waslis — layered, thin sheets of 
handmade papers glued together to get the desired thickness. 
The outline was sketched on waslis in black or brown 
followed by colours fixed therein by brief notations or sample 
patches. Colour pigments were predominantly obtained from 
minerals and precious metals like gold and silver that were 
mixed with glue as the binding medium. Camel and squirrel 
1_2.Rajashtani Painting.indd   10 01 Sep 2020   02:13:31 PM
Rationalised 2023-24
The RajasThani s chools of PainTing 11
hair were used in brushes. On completion, the painting was 
burnished with an agate to lend it a uniform sheen and an 
appealing resplendence.
The painting activity was a kind of teamwork, with the 
master artist composing and doing preliminary drawings, 
followed by pupils or experts of colouring, portraiture, 
architecture, landscape, animals, etc., taking over and doing 
their bit, and finally, the master artist putting the finishing 
touches. The scribe would write the verse in the space left 
for the one.
Themes of Paintings – An Overview
By the sixteenth century, Vaishvanism in the cults of Rama 
and Krishna had become popular in many parts of western, 
northern and central India as part of the Bhakti movement 
that had swept the entire Indian subcontinent. Krishna had 
a special appeal. He was not only worshipped as God but 
also as an ideal lover. The notion of ‘love’ was cherished as a 
religious theme, where a delightful synthesis of sensuousness 
and mysticism was perceived. Krishna was perceived as the 
Krishna and gopis in the forest, 
Gita Govinda, Mewar, 1550, 
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj 
Vastu Sangrahalaya,  Mumbai
1_2.Rajashtani Painting.indd   11 01 Sep 2020   02:13:31 PM
Rationalised 2023-24
12 a n i nTRoducTion To i ndian a RT —PaRT ii creator from whom all creation was a sportive emanation, 
and Radha, the human soul who led to offer herself to 
God. The soul’s devotion to the deity is pictured by Radha’s 
self-abandonment to her beloved Krishna epitomised in  
Gita Govinda paintings.
Composed in the twelfth century by Jayadeva, who is 
believed to have been the court poet of Lakshmana Sen of 
Bengal, Gita Govinda, the ‘Song of the Cowherd’, is a lyrical 
poem in Sanskrit, evoking shringara rasa, portraying the 
mystical love between Radha and Krishna through worldly 
imageries. Bhanu Datta, a Maithil Brahmin who lived in 
Bihar in the fourteenth century, composed another favourite 
text of artists, Rasamanjari, interpreted as the ‘Bouquet of 
Delight’. Written in Sanskrit, the text is a treatise on rasa 
and deals with the classification of heroes (nayakas) and 
heroines (nayikas) in accordance with their age — baal, taruna 
and praudha; physiognomic traits of appearance, such as 
padmini, chitrini, shankhini, hastini, etc., and emotional 
states, such as khandita, vasaksajja, abhisarika, utka, etc. 
Though Krishna is not mentioned in the text, painters have 
introduced him as the archetypal lover.
Rasikapriya, translated as ‘The Connoisseur’s Delight’, 
is replete with complex poetic interpretations and was 
composed to incite aesthetic pleasure to elite courtiers. 
Composed in Brajbhasha by Keshav Das, the court poet 
of Raja Madhukar Shah of Orchha in 1591, Rasikapriya 
explores various emotive states, such as love, togetherness, 
jilt, jealousy, quarrel and its aftermath, separation, anger, 
etc., that are common between lovers represented through 
the characters of Radha and Krishna.
Kavipriya, another poetic work by Keshav Das, was 
written in the honour of Rai Parbin, a celebrated courtesan 
of Orchha. It is a tale of love and its tenth chapter evocatively 
titled Baramasa engages with the most enduring climactic 
description of the 12 months of the year. While illustrating 
the daily life of people in different seasons and alluding to 
festivals falling therein, Keshav Das describes how the nayika 
prevails upon the nayaka not to leave her and proceed on 
a journey.
Bihari Satsai, authored by Bihari Lal, constituting 700 
verses (satsai), is composed in the form of aphorisms and 
moralising witticism. It is largely held that he composed 
the Satsai around 1662 while he was at the court of Jaipur 
1_2.Rajashtani Painting.indd   12 01 Sep 2020   02:13:31 PM
Rationalised 2023-24
The RajasThani s chools of PainTing 13
working for Mirza Raja Jai singh as the patron’s name appears 
in several verses of the Satsai. The Satsai has been largely 
painted at Mewar and less frequently in the Pahari School.
Ragamala paintings are pictorial interpretations of ragas 
and raginis.
Ragas are traditionally envisioned in divine or human form in 
romantic or devotional contexts by musicians and poets. Each 
raga is associated with a specific mood, time of the day and 
season. Ragamala paintings are arranged in albums invariably 
containing 36 or 42 folios, organised in the format of families. 
Each family is headed by a male raga, having six female 
consorts called raginis. The six main ragas are Bhairava, 
Malkos, Hindol, Dipak, Megha and Shri.
Bardic legends and other romantic tales, such as 
Dhola-Maru, Sohni-Mahiwal, Mrigavat, Chaurpanchashika 
and Laurchanda just to mention a few were other favourite 
themes. Texts, such as the Ramayana, Bhagvata Purana, 
Mahabharata, Devi Mahatmya and the like were favourites 
with all schools of painting.
Moreover, a large number of paintings record darbar 
scenes and historic moments; depict hunting expeditions, 
wars and victories; picnics, garden parties, dance and music 
performances; rituals, festivals and wedding processions; 
portraits of kings, courtiers and their families; city views; 
birds and animals.
Chaurpanchasika,  
Mewar, 1500, N. C. Mehta 
Collection, Ahmedabad, Gujarat
1_2.Rajashtani Painting.indd   13 01 Sep 2020   02:13:31 PM
Rationalised 2023-24
Page 5


The Rajasthani Schools of Painting
2
T
he term ‘Rajasthani Schools of Painting’ pertains to 
the schools of painting that prevailed in the princely 
kingdoms and thikanas of what roughly constitutes Rajasthan 
and parts of Madhya Pradesh in the present time, such as 
Mewar, Bundi, Kota, Jaipur, Bikaner, Kishangarh, Jodhpur 
(Marwar), Malwa, Sirohi and other such principalities largely 
between the sixteenth and early nineteenth centuries. 
Scholar Anand Coomaraswamy in 1916 coined the term 
‘Rajput Paintings’ to refer to these as most rulers and patrons 
of these kingdoms were Rajputs.  He, specifically, coined it to 
categorise and differentiate this group from the much known 
Mughal School of Painting. Therefore, Malwa, comprising 
princedoms of Central India, and the Pahari Schools that 
comprises the pahari or mountainous Himalayan region of 
north-western India was also in the ambit of Rajput Schools. 
For Coomaraswamy, the nomenclature represented the 
indigenous tradition of painting prevalent in the mainland 
before the conquest by the Mughals. Studies in Indian 
paintings have come a long way since then and the term 
‘Rajput Schools’ is obsolete. Instead, specific categories, 
such as Rajasthani and Pahari are employed.
Though separated by short distances, the pictorial 
styles that emerged and evolved in these kingdoms were 
significantly diverse in terms of either execution — fine or 
bold; preference of colours (brilliant or gentle); compositional 
elements (depiction of architecture, figures and nature); 
modes of narration; affinity for naturalism — or had emphasis 
on extreme mannerism.
Paintings were painted on waslis — layered, thin sheets of 
handmade papers glued together to get the desired thickness. 
The outline was sketched on waslis in black or brown 
followed by colours fixed therein by brief notations or sample 
patches. Colour pigments were predominantly obtained from 
minerals and precious metals like gold and silver that were 
mixed with glue as the binding medium. Camel and squirrel 
1_2.Rajashtani Painting.indd   10 01 Sep 2020   02:13:31 PM
Rationalised 2023-24
The RajasThani s chools of PainTing 11
hair were used in brushes. On completion, the painting was 
burnished with an agate to lend it a uniform sheen and an 
appealing resplendence.
The painting activity was a kind of teamwork, with the 
master artist composing and doing preliminary drawings, 
followed by pupils or experts of colouring, portraiture, 
architecture, landscape, animals, etc., taking over and doing 
their bit, and finally, the master artist putting the finishing 
touches. The scribe would write the verse in the space left 
for the one.
Themes of Paintings – An Overview
By the sixteenth century, Vaishvanism in the cults of Rama 
and Krishna had become popular in many parts of western, 
northern and central India as part of the Bhakti movement 
that had swept the entire Indian subcontinent. Krishna had 
a special appeal. He was not only worshipped as God but 
also as an ideal lover. The notion of ‘love’ was cherished as a 
religious theme, where a delightful synthesis of sensuousness 
and mysticism was perceived. Krishna was perceived as the 
Krishna and gopis in the forest, 
Gita Govinda, Mewar, 1550, 
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj 
Vastu Sangrahalaya,  Mumbai
1_2.Rajashtani Painting.indd   11 01 Sep 2020   02:13:31 PM
Rationalised 2023-24
12 a n i nTRoducTion To i ndian a RT —PaRT ii creator from whom all creation was a sportive emanation, 
and Radha, the human soul who led to offer herself to 
God. The soul’s devotion to the deity is pictured by Radha’s 
self-abandonment to her beloved Krishna epitomised in  
Gita Govinda paintings.
Composed in the twelfth century by Jayadeva, who is 
believed to have been the court poet of Lakshmana Sen of 
Bengal, Gita Govinda, the ‘Song of the Cowherd’, is a lyrical 
poem in Sanskrit, evoking shringara rasa, portraying the 
mystical love between Radha and Krishna through worldly 
imageries. Bhanu Datta, a Maithil Brahmin who lived in 
Bihar in the fourteenth century, composed another favourite 
text of artists, Rasamanjari, interpreted as the ‘Bouquet of 
Delight’. Written in Sanskrit, the text is a treatise on rasa 
and deals with the classification of heroes (nayakas) and 
heroines (nayikas) in accordance with their age — baal, taruna 
and praudha; physiognomic traits of appearance, such as 
padmini, chitrini, shankhini, hastini, etc., and emotional 
states, such as khandita, vasaksajja, abhisarika, utka, etc. 
Though Krishna is not mentioned in the text, painters have 
introduced him as the archetypal lover.
Rasikapriya, translated as ‘The Connoisseur’s Delight’, 
is replete with complex poetic interpretations and was 
composed to incite aesthetic pleasure to elite courtiers. 
Composed in Brajbhasha by Keshav Das, the court poet 
of Raja Madhukar Shah of Orchha in 1591, Rasikapriya 
explores various emotive states, such as love, togetherness, 
jilt, jealousy, quarrel and its aftermath, separation, anger, 
etc., that are common between lovers represented through 
the characters of Radha and Krishna.
Kavipriya, another poetic work by Keshav Das, was 
written in the honour of Rai Parbin, a celebrated courtesan 
of Orchha. It is a tale of love and its tenth chapter evocatively 
titled Baramasa engages with the most enduring climactic 
description of the 12 months of the year. While illustrating 
the daily life of people in different seasons and alluding to 
festivals falling therein, Keshav Das describes how the nayika 
prevails upon the nayaka not to leave her and proceed on 
a journey.
Bihari Satsai, authored by Bihari Lal, constituting 700 
verses (satsai), is composed in the form of aphorisms and 
moralising witticism. It is largely held that he composed 
the Satsai around 1662 while he was at the court of Jaipur 
1_2.Rajashtani Painting.indd   12 01 Sep 2020   02:13:31 PM
Rationalised 2023-24
The RajasThani s chools of PainTing 13
working for Mirza Raja Jai singh as the patron’s name appears 
in several verses of the Satsai. The Satsai has been largely 
painted at Mewar and less frequently in the Pahari School.
Ragamala paintings are pictorial interpretations of ragas 
and raginis.
Ragas are traditionally envisioned in divine or human form in 
romantic or devotional contexts by musicians and poets. Each 
raga is associated with a specific mood, time of the day and 
season. Ragamala paintings are arranged in albums invariably 
containing 36 or 42 folios, organised in the format of families. 
Each family is headed by a male raga, having six female 
consorts called raginis. The six main ragas are Bhairava, 
Malkos, Hindol, Dipak, Megha and Shri.
Bardic legends and other romantic tales, such as 
Dhola-Maru, Sohni-Mahiwal, Mrigavat, Chaurpanchashika 
and Laurchanda just to mention a few were other favourite 
themes. Texts, such as the Ramayana, Bhagvata Purana, 
Mahabharata, Devi Mahatmya and the like were favourites 
with all schools of painting.
Moreover, a large number of paintings record darbar 
scenes and historic moments; depict hunting expeditions, 
wars and victories; picnics, garden parties, dance and music 
performances; rituals, festivals and wedding processions; 
portraits of kings, courtiers and their families; city views; 
birds and animals.
Chaurpanchasika,  
Mewar, 1500, N. C. Mehta 
Collection, Ahmedabad, Gujarat
1_2.Rajashtani Painting.indd   13 01 Sep 2020   02:13:31 PM
Rationalised 2023-24
14 a n i nTRoducTion To i ndian a RT —PaRT ii Malwa School of Painting
The Malwa School flourished between 1600 and 1700 CE 
and is most representative of the Hindu Rajput courts. 
Its two-dimensional simplistic language appears as a 
consummation of stylistic progression from the Jain 
manuscripts to the Chaurpanchashika manuscript paintings.
Unlike the specificity of Rajasthani schools 
that emerged and flourished in precise territorial 
kingdoms and courts of their respective kings, 
Malwa School defies a precise centre for its origin 
and instead suggests a vast territory of Central 
India, where it got articulated with a sporadic 
mention of few places, such as Mandu, Nusratgarh 
and Narsyang Sahar. Among the few early dated 
sets are an illustrated poetic text of Amaru Shataka 
dated 1652 CE and a Ragamala painting by 
Madho Das in 1680 CE. A large number of Malwa 
paintings discovered from the Datia Palace 
collection supports a claim for Bundelkhand as 
the region of painting. But the mural paintings 
in the Datia Palace of Bundelkhand defy an 
obvious Mughal influence, which is contrary to 
the works on paper that are stylistically inclined 
towards indigenous two-dimensional austerity. A 
complete absence of the mention of patron kings 
and also portraits in this school supports a view 
that these paintings were bought by the Datia rulers from 
travelling artists, who carried paintings on popular themes, 
such as the Ramayana, Bhagvata Purana, Amaru Shataka, 
Rasikapriya, Ragamala and Baramasa, among others.
The Mughal School dominates the scene from the sixteenth 
century through the courts of Delhi, Agra, Fatehpur Sikri and 
Lahore. Provincial Mughal Schools prospered in many parts 
of the country, which were under the Mughals but headed by 
powerful and wealthy governors appointed by Mughal emperors, 
where pictorial language evolved through an amalgamation 
of Mughal and eccentric local elements. The Deccani School 
flourished in centres, such as Ahmednagar, Bijapur, Golconda 
and Hyderabad from the sixteenth century. The Rajasthani 
Schools came into prominence in the late sixteenth and early 
seventeenth century, with the Pahari School following in the 
late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries.
Raga Megha,  
Madho Das, Malwa, 1680, 
National Museum, New Delhi
1_2.Rajashtani Painting.indd   14 01 Sep 2020   02:13:31 PM
Rationalised 2023-24