A Begum Giving Sitting for a Portrait

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The painting, a miniature representing a portraitist sketching the likeness of a Begum, giving him sitting, perhaps one from Murshidabad or Oudh, Mughals’ provincial headquarters, portrays an aggregate picture of the late nineteenth century Muslim feudatory or rather overall transition in Indian way of life that on the one hand felt the compulsion of its own past, its traditions’ pressure to continue with the old things, beliefs, convictions, styles of clothes and everything, and on the other, new winds blowing from the west, Europe in particular, dragged it to new influences seeking to change its entire complexion and texture, a period when Indian elite – feudatory, land-owning class and other rich, looked eager to relinquish its past and assimilate in its place the new – European ways, its things and lifestyle.

As suggest her wears, rich jewellery, style of couch she is seated on, side-table with wine-jar and goblets, kind of residence, and affordability to engage an artist for her portrait, the lady giving the sitting is a royal personage of not less than a begum’s status. In many things, from her attire to her manners, there reflects continuity of Mughals’ life-ways suggesting not merely her Islamic links but also that she is essentially from one of the Mughals’ provinces, Oudh or Murshidabad. A thin sheet made of fine transparent muslin used as her outer cover replacing burqa, such as the Bengal’s master weavers wove, and her European style costume, especially her short half coat and striped trousers-type lower wear replacing traditional pajama, shalwar, garara or sharara, decisively link her with Murshidabad harem as Murshidabad had preceded Oudh in embracing European influences.

A contemporary work, the painting is rendered pursuing technical accomplishment of the most matured phase of Provincial Mughal art style which combined with Mughal art’s sophistication, finish, accuracy of details, figures’ modeling, iconographic perfection, and overall spirit the variegated colour schemes, front or partially front facing postures, and a feeling of affectation. The portraitist’s typical Mughalia or rather Jahangiri turban, face in profile and delineation of sharp features, style of ‘angarakha’ – outer robe, and more specially the ‘patka’ – waistband, are characteristically Mughal; however, the female figure giving the sitting controverts this position. Her rounded two-third frontal face and body posture apart, she has nothing characteristically Mughal in her attire, ornaments and even surroundings.

Even after the Mughal yoke was overthrown, the courts and harems of Oudh and Murshidabad continued with Mughals’ life-ways, their tastes, art pursuits, costume fashions, court-customs and almost everything. However, the begum’s figure shows hardly little of such continuity, something which emerged around 1870s when the British had completely grabbed India’s authority and a show of subservience on the part of the Indian feudatory, Hindu or Islamic, had become the essential condition of its survival. Obviously, the figure of the lady, the style of her costume, furniture and even the architecture, reveal this compulsion. Multi-coloured cubes defining a building’s elevation, or the Victorian architecture’s waving arch, as this painting has, in contrast to the Sultanate pointed arch, or Mughals’ corbelled, are essentially European features.

This description by Prof. P.C. Jain and Dr. Daljeet. Prof. Jain specializes on the aesthetics of literature and is the author of numerous books on Indian art and culture. Dr. Daljeet is the curator of the Miniature Painting Gallery, National Museum, New Delhi. They have both collaborated together on a number of books.