MUGHAL INDIA, CIRCA 1698-1700

This painting belongs to a group of pictures depicting the juxtaposition of the tribal and royal hunt. The earliest illustration in this genre is now in the Keir Collection and is dated 1691. The foreground is divided into two scenes of a young prince accompanied by a retinue of attendants and falconers and tribal hunters stalking deer by night. Unlike earlier depictions from this group, the artist has chosen to portray a Bhil man alongside a Chenchu woman, both wearing slippers. In this nocturnal hunting collaboration the Chenchu huntress mesmerizes a male blackbuck with her chiming hand-bell and flaming taper, so that the vulnerable quarry willingly offers itself to the hunter. Her companion expeditiously lets fly an arrow that transfixes the antelope’s head and hoof. The image of the buck’s hoof pinned to its head is a feat reminiscent of Bahram Gur. The nocturnal landscape shows the fascination with European chiaroscuro effects, which was probably another reason for the popularity of this night-time genre.

An inaccurate inscription near the upper margin of the painting identifies the prince as Shah Jahan and the artist as Fath Chand. The left side of the composition clearly derives from the Keir painting although the accompanying entourage has been greatly reduced. The squatting man in both paintings appears in almost the same place.

The youthful mounted prince seen in the later painting is clearly adapted from the Keir composition in which the young prince is perhaps one of Kam Bakhsh’s sons. The prince’s carefully chosen convoy although reduced draws on pictorial elements seen in the earlier painting. However, the context of the original scene is altered as the prince has lost his riding companion. A close copy of this image, dating to the first quarter of the 18^th century is in the collection of the Freer Gallery (F.1907.210). The young protagonist is shown with even less companions but the colour palette and composition clearly derive from the painting under discussion.

Tribal people were above all celebrated for their hunting dexterity in Mughal eyes, however it was during the mid-17^th to early 18^th century that numerous compositions of a tribal couple hunting blackbuck by night became a popular subject for illustration. An interesting aspect of the nocturnal deer hunt subjects is the portrayal of women alongside their male partners and their equal participation in the hunt, thus demonstrating a sexual equality so foreign to the Mughal or aristocratic way of life. This genre of paintings communicate the Mughal interest in people whose way of life and hunting traditions were alien to their own. This visual juxtaposition of Mughals and tribals also served to emphasize the unrestrained and more spontaneous tribal way of life, in contrast to the elaborate social conventions and inhibitions that defined the civilized ideal.

We would like to thank Adeela Qureshi de Unger for her preparation of this essay.