← Back 🏠 Home

Fine Arts: Class 12 — Chapter 4: The Deccani Schools of Painting

Overview of Deccani Painting
Ahmadnagar School of Painting

Key Manuscripts & Stylistic Features

  • Tarif-i-Hussain Shahi: Earliest examples (1565–1569) celebrating the reign of Hussain Nizam Shah I (1553–1565). Contains 12 miniatures; battle scenes are of low artistic interest, but marriage/queen scenes feature gorgeous colors and sensuous lines.
  • Female Costumes & Features: Women wear modified northern costumes with choli (bodice) and long braided pigtails ending in tassels. Features a long southern-style scarf passing below the hips, similar to Lepakshi frescoes. Hair is rolled in a bun at the nape of the neck.
  • Landscape & Persian Influence: High circular horizons and gold skies show strong Persian influence. Landscapes feature neutral-colored grounds patterned with small stylised plants or symmetrical architectural domes.
  • Male Costumes: Decisively northern jama with pointed tails (early Akbari style) and small pagri.
  • Bukhara Influence: Original paintings in the Gulistan of 1567 are attributed to Bukhara artists who also worked in the Deccan. Supported by a manuscript in the Bankipore Library (Patna) signed by scribe Yusuf and dedicated to Ibrahim Adil (1569) / Ibrahim Qutb Shah of Golconda (1550-1580) in pure Bukhara idiom.
Bijapur School of Painting

Key Manuscripts & Royal Patrons

  • Nujum al-Ulum (1570): A richly illustrated encyclopedia containing 876 miniatures depicting weapons, utensils, and astronomical constellations. Influenced by Ottoman Turkish manuscripts.
  • Royal Patrons: Nurtured under Ali Adil Shah I (1558–1580) and Ibrahim Adil Shah II (1580–1627). Ibrahim II was an expert in Indian music, author of Nauras-nama, and patron of the Ragamala series (1590s).
  • The Throne of Prosperity: A symbolic diagram from Nujum al-Ulum featuring a seven-stage auspicious throne supported by elephants, tigers, palm trees, peacocks, and tribes. Incorporates Gujarati wood-carved doorway structures and Deccani foliage against a deep blue sky.
  • Yogini Painting: Depicts a female practitioner of yoga leading a disciplined spiritual life. Features a vertical composition, standing figure holding a myna bird, long swirling scarves, and exquisite flora.
Golconda School of Painting

Socio-Economic Context & Artistic Style

  • Economic Prosperity: Independent state in 1512; wealthiest Deccani kingdom by the late 16th century due to trade in iron, cotton, and diamonds.
  • Global Reach: Dutch merchants exported portraits of sultans to Europe. Large-scale paintings (up to 8 feet high) were produced as wall hangings (1635–1650).
  • Diwan of Hafiz (1463/1590): Earliest miniatures showing court scenes of a young ruler holding a long straight Deccani sword, wearing a white coat with embroidered vertical bands. Features lavish gold, deep azure skies, and dancing girls with no Mughal influence. Notable for purple hues and blue foxes.
  • Muhammad Qutb Shah Portrait: Depicts the ruler (1611–1626) on a diwan wearing typical Golconda dress and a tight-fitting cap, showing high composition symmetry and sophistication.
  • Sufi Poem Manuscript: Richly illustrated with over 20 miniatures. Features gold and blue skies in separate bands, Deccani-type trees with tinted edges, and plants silhouetted against dark foliage.
Masterwork Analysis Portfolio
Artwork / Folio NamePatron Dynasty & DateMaster Artist AttributionMedium, Pigments & TechniqueComposition Elements & Narrative Symbolism
Sultan Adil Shah II playing TamburaBijapur, c. 1595–1600Farrukh BegOpaque watercolor on paperSultan playing a stringed instrument (tambura) in a highly detailed, lush landscape with gold-tinted foliage and birds.
Composite HorseGolconda, Early 17th CenturyUnknownOpaque watercolor on paper; limited color schema (browns and blue)Surreal composition of intertwined human figures forming a galloping horse. Features flying cranes, lions, Chinese clouds, large-leaved plants, and anchoring rocky formulations at the bottom.
Sultan Ibrahim Adil Shah II hawkingBijapur, c. 1595–1600UnknownOpaque watercolor on paper; brilliant red, deep olive green, emerald green, cobalt blue, goldSultan on a galloping horse with brilliant red limbs, holding a white hawk. Features dense forest foliage, Persian-style rocks, and native plants in the foreground.
Ragini Pathamsika of Raga HindolaBijapur/Deccan, c. 1590–1595UnknownOpaque watercolor on paper; vibrant red and green, dark outlinesTwo beautifully dressed and bejewelled women in a pavilion (one playing a veena), with a third outside. Features Devanagari script on top, arabesque domes, and a small elephant with a raised trunk.
Sultan Abdullah Qutb ShahGolconda/Bijapur, 17th CenturyUnknownOpaque watercolor on paper; gold bordersEnthroned portrait of the ruler holding a sword (symbol of political sovereignty) with a halo around his head depicting divinity. Features a Persian inscription at the top.
Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya and Amir KhusrauHyderabad, Deccan (Provincial), 18th CenturyUnknownOpaque watercolor on paper; naive/basic provincial styleDepicts the revered Sufi saint Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya listening to music played by his disciple, the poet Hazrat Amir Khusrau, under a stylized tree.
Chand Bibi playing PoloBijapur (Provincial, later period)UnknownOpaque watercolor on paperQueen Chand Bibi playing chaugan (equestrian polo) on a green field with other riders, set against a crescent-shaped landscape.