“The wall paintings at Fathpur were first catalogued by E W Smith in 1895. Exactly a century later, I photographed them. Some that Smith saw have since disappeared; some not recorded by him, are now visible. What survives gives us a good idea of the Mughals’ worldview and their attempts at founding an all-inclusive culture.”… Read more »
Mughal emperors considered gardens as one of the most important architectural components of their state—so what made a garden adequately ‘Mughal’? Here are 10 clues
When Arjumand Banu Begum (1593-1631), principal consort of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, passed away, a marble mausoleum was constructed to house her mortal remains on the south bank of the Yamuna. The Taj Mahal, originally named Rauza-i-Munawarah, took fifteen years from 1632 to be completed. Marble from Makrana, jasper from Punjab and jade from China… Read more »
This photograph of the Taj Mahal was taken by V Pont, who can be seen standing towards the left of the first rectangular fountain in the foreground. V & E Pont were two British servicemen who set up a photo studio in Calcutta during the 1860s, when it was the bustling capital of the British… Read more »
This silver coin was issued by Akbar and minted at Akbarpur Tanda. The coins consist of the ‘Kalima’ inscribed on the obverse and the name and title of the issuer, date and mint on the reverse. This particular coin from the Akbarpur Tanda mint is considered to be very rare, with the ‘Maltese cross’ mint… Read more »
This silver coin was issued in by Akbar, minted at Agra, and is known as the ‘Kalima type’. Inscribed on both the sides, the coins consist of the ‘Kalima’ (Islamic affirmation of faith) on the obverse and the name and title of the issuer, date and mint on the reverse. On the obverse side of… Read more »
This silver coin is inscribed on both the obverse and reverse and the inscriptions appear inside a floral design motif. This qualifies it in the ‘Decorative type’ category of coin issued by Emperor Akbar. Akbar’s Ilai coins typically bore the Ilahi creed: Allahu Akbar Jalla Jalalhu. He issued silver Ilahi coins minted at Agra in… Read more »
Among the Mughals, Jahangir was undoubtedly the greatest patron of the arts, the man with The Eye. To him, even an object of prosaic commerce like the coin deserved to have beauty poured upon it. Jahangiri currency encompasses a remarkable variety of coins with interesting calligraphy and portrait designs. Because he was passionate about poetry,… Read more »
This coin is symbolic of both the power and the precariousness of a queen’s role in an empire of men. Nur Jahan was the twentieth wife of Jahangir and especially favoured by the emperor. This placed her a unique position for a woman of her time and she used it to influence Mughal politics and… Read more »
‘Futtypore Sikri’ is a highly Anglicised spelling of Agra’s Fatehpur Sikri. It was founded as the capital of Mughal Empire in 1571 by Akbar and served in this role from 1571 to 1585. Fatehpur is Persian for ‘city of victory’ and Sikri comes from the name of the village that occupied this spot before Akbar gave… Read more »