Rajput Painting, Volume 1: Text

Rajput painting, the subject of this work, is the Hindu painting of Rajputana and the Paflj^b Himalayas. Its period may be taken as from about the beginning of the 13th century a.d. — when the Rajputs, dispossessed of capital cities such as Delhi, where classic Indian art and literature was still preserved, began to adjust their life to changed political conditions — ^to the middle of the 19th century. The term Rajput is employed because all the works discussed have been produced under the patronage of Rajput princes; it conveniently summarizes the fact of broad distinction from Mughal; and is preferable to any sectarian name such as Hindu, because that would have too wide a geographical application. Rajput painting is the counterpart of the vernacular literature of Hindustan.

Rajput painting, needless to say, does not stand alone as the only school of Indian painting of its day. It is but one, though the most important, of several continuations and descendants of the old classic art of Buddhism and early Hinduism, adapted to changed demands; and at the same time it is to a considerable extent^ontemporary with a fresh and eclectic development, well known under the name of ‘Indo- Persian’, Mughal, or ‘Indo-Taimuria’ painting. The general relationship of all these schools will be most conveniently summarized in the accompanying table.