Question 75 from UPSC CSE 2019 - Medieval History

Question

Who among the following Mughal Emperors shifted emphasis from illustrated manuscripts to album and individual portrait?

IASCODEX · Accepted Answer

Correct Option: C. Jahangir

Strategy: Focus on keywords related to changes in art—looking for the emperor associated with shifting court culture from narrative illustrated manuscripts to portraiture and albums. Akbar promoted illustrated manuscripts and large narrative projects, while Jahangir is specifically noted for fostering naturalism, portraiture, and album art. The others are either from earlier or later periods with different artistic priorities.

Key Info: The Mughal School of Painting flourished under successive emperors, each contributing distinct features:

- **Humayun**: Re-established the Mughal dynasty; had Persian painters at court but no major shift in pictorial focus.

- **Akbar** (r. 1556–1605): Patronized large-scale, narrative, and illustrated manuscripts like Tuti-nama, Akbarnama, and Hamzanama. Workshops employed several painters working collaboratively on elaborate projects. Narrative illustration and visual storytelling dominated the art scene.

- **Jahangir** (r. 1605–1627): Noted for his deep personal interest in the arts, Jahangir shifted patronage towards album (muraqqa) paintings and naturalistic individual portraiture, including paintings of court notables, exotic animals, birds, and flora. High refinement, realism, and European-influenced techniques (like perspective and shading) became more prominent. The influential album format collected single works — portraits, studies of nature, calligraphy — into luxurious bound volumes.

- **Shah Jahan** (r. 1628–1658): Continued to patronize painting but preferred opulent, formalized aesthetics and architecture, with less emphasis on innovation or shifts in style compared to his father, Jahangir. Portraits and courtly scenes were produced, but the major transition had occurred earlier.

The Mughal painting tradition is renowned for combining Persian, Indian, and later European influences; the greatest innovations in portrait realism and focus on individual subjects came under Jahangir. The muraqqa (album) tradition flourished in his reign, marking a major stylistic and thematic move away from illustrated epics and manuscripts toward compilation albums and lifelike solo portraits.

IASCODEX · Answer

Option A: Humayun

IASCODEX · Answer

Option B: Akbar

IASCODEX · Answer

Option D: Shah Jahan