India: The Battle of Lanka, from the Ramayana. Painting by Sahibdin, 17th century

A scene from the Ramayana, an ancient Sanskrit epic. Depicted here are several stages of the War of Lanka, with the monkey army of the protagonist Rama (top left, blue figure) fighting the demon army of the king of Lanka, Ravana, to save Rama's kidnapped wife Sita. The three-headed figure of the demon general Trisiras occurs in several places – most dramatically at the bottom left, where he is shown beheaded by Hanuman.

Sahibdin (fl. 17th century) was an Indian miniature painter of the Mewar school of Rajasthan painting. He was one of the dominant painters of the era, and one of the few whose name is still known today. Sahibdin was a Muslim, but that kept neither his Hindu patrons from employing him, nor him from composing Hindu-themed works of great value.

Among his surviving works are a series of musically themed 'ragamala' from 1628; a series on the scriptural text Bhagavata Purana from 1648; and illustrations to the sixth book of the Hindu epic Ramayana – the Yuddha Kanda – from 1652. His style can be seen to continue the figure style of the Gujarati era, while also incorporating new elements, like mountainous terrains, from Mughal art.

Copyright:

Supplier: CPA Media Co. Ltd.

Credit:

Pictures From History

Theme:

RAMAYANA