GOLCONDA, 1672-80 AD

Sultan Abu'l Hassan's elevation to the throne in 1670, instated over the heir presumptive, brought in a tolerant and gentle ruler, who was interested in promoting the Telegu Hindu elements in his kingdom at the expense of the Muslim. He thus attracted the wrath of the very orthodox Mughal emperor Aurangzeb who in 1682 invaded the Deccan, ending its independance. In a well-known portrait formerly in the Edwin Binney 3rd Collection the Sultan is shown as a sympathetic aesthete, somewhat overweight, smiling as he smells a flower (Edwin Binney 3rd, Indian Miniature Painting from the Collection of Edwin Binney 3rd, Mughal and Deccani Schools, Portland, 1973, cat.137, pl.p.166). Here in contrast he is shown more thoughtful, more formal and powerful. The power is however somewhat undermined by the face of the very coy horse on which he is seated. This creation of an almost human expression on a horse is also found on a contemporary portrait of the Sultan's mentor, Shah Raja, painted by Rasul Khan (Mark Zebrowski, Deccani Painting, London, 1983, fig.161, p.196).