Question

evolution of Mughals school of painting under Akbar 500 words

Answer 1

Akbari painting is principally illustrative, concerned with recording and describing events. These may be historic, legendary, religious, or indeed contemporary, in the instance of an album of portraits of courtiers which Akbar directed be prepared.5 Akbar’s intellectual interests lay in the enjoyment of history and in religious enquiry and debate.6 Copies of famous books, lavishly illustrated and sumptuously bound, were prepared for the imperial library. Where important texts did not exist in Persian, Akbar directed members of his court to undertake translations. Akbar was not the first Muslim ruler to initiate the translation of Sanskrit texts, but under his direction this interest in important literary and theological texts of the Hindu world flourished.7 A translation bureau, the Maktab-Khana, was established at Fathpur-Sikri expressly for this purpose. Many of the key Hindu texts, including the Mahabharata, Ramayana and Yogvasishtha, were translated, along with Arab texts relating to folklore and astronomy and, later, Latin and Portuguese works of Christian theology. Many of these translations were richly illustrated and bound by the imperial atelier and workshop at Akbar’s direction (see Appendix).8