Rajput painting

Rajput painting, painting of the regional Hindu courts during the Mughal era, roughly from the end of the 16th century to the middle of the 19th century. Traditionally, Rajput painting is further divided into Rajasthan and Pahari painting^[1][2][3] which flourished in two different areas "far apart from each other in terms of distance but all under the rule of Rajput chiefs, and bound together by a common culture".^[4]

The nomenclature 'Rajput painting' was introduced by Ananda Coomaraswamy in his book Rajput Painting, Being an Account of the Hindu Paintings of Rajasthan and the Panjab Himalayas (1916), which was the first monography of the subject.^[5] Rajput painting evolved from the Hindu painting of the 16th century (sometimes called "Early Rajput Painting"), which substantially changed under the influence of Mughal painting. Different styles of Rajput painting range from conservative idioms that preserve traditional values of bright colour, flatness and abstract form (e.g. Mewar and Basohli) to those showing greater Mughal impact in their refinement and cool colour (e.g. Bikaner and Kangra). But despite absorption of the new techniques and subjects from Mughals (and also, to a lesser extent, from European and Deccan painting), Rajput artists never lost their own distinct identity, which manifested itself especially in Indian predilection to universal rather than individual. Local styles of Rajput painting developed in the 17th century, when Mughal painting dominated over Indian art. In the 18th century, Mughal school was only one of the many among regional schools of painting and Rajput art was much more important in its overall output. In the 19th century, with political decline of Rajput states and rising influence of Western painting and photography, Rajput painting gradually ceased to exist.