Mughal Painting: Indian Miniature Tradition, Akbar, Jahangir, and the Imperial Kitabkhana

In the early 17th century, at the court of the Mughal emperor Jahangir, a painter named Abu'l-Hasan produced a painting of squirrels in a plane tree. The emperor wrote in his memoir that the work was "perfect" and "a masterpiece of the age," and awarded the young painter the title Nadir al-Zaman, "Wonder of These Times." Jahangir's father Akbar had been illiterate, yet he was a diligent patron of specific artists, texts, and ideas. He employed over 100 artists in his imperial workshop, though we only know the names of a few dozen. At least two of them were women. The Mughal emperors built a painting tradition that brought together Persian emigre artists, Hindu artisans trained in indigenous Indian traditions, and European stylistic influences, creating what the Victoria and Albert Museum's 2025 exhibition called a "new art" that was the product of empire.

Mughal painting is a style of miniature painting that developed in the imperial workshops of the Mughal Empire in India between the 16th and 19th centuries. It combines Persian, Indian, and European artistic traditions, reflecting the multicultural, multilingual environment of the Mughal court. The paintings were produced as book illustrations or as single works for albums (muraqqa'), and they range from a few square inches to large folio sheets. The tradition reached its peak during the reigns of Akbar (1556-1605), Jahangir (1605-1627), and Shah Jahan (1628-1658), covering just over a century of extraordinary artistic production.

This entry covers what Mughal painting is, how it emerged from the fusion of Persian and Indian traditions, which artists defined it, and how the imperial workshop functioned as a site of cultural exchange.

What Is Mughal Painting?

Mughal painting is a style of miniature painting that originated during the Mughal period in the Indian subcontinent. It reflects a combination of Indian, Persian, and Islamic styles. The paintings were used as book illustrations or as single works to be kept in albums. The term "miniature" is somewhat misleading: while many paintings are small, the Hamzanama, the most ambitious painting project of the early Mughal period, contains canvases over two feet tall.

The paintings were produced in the imperial kitabkhana, or book house, which functioned like a medieval European scriptorium. Dozens of craftsmen worked together to create luxurious Qurans, illuminated manuscripts, and albums of paintings interspersed with calligraphy. The workshop brought together scholars and artists of different nationalities, languages, and faiths: Persian, Indian, Armenian, and European; Hindu, Muslim, and Christian. They produced copies of epics such as the Persian Hamzanama and the Hindu Ramayana and Mahabharata, as well as the memoirs and biographies of the emperors themselves.

The 2025 V&A exhibition Great Mughals: Art, Architecture and Opulence (November 2024 to May 2025) displayed together for the first time the finest examples of Mughal painting, textiles, metal, and tile-work from the reigns of Akbar, Jahangir, and Shah Jahan. The exhibition argued that a "new art" was created in Akbar's royal workshops, which brought together local artisans trained in indigenous Indian traditions with emigre artists versed in the Persianate tradition. As curator Susan Stronge put it, "The institutionalisation was new. For the first time, you had the availability of craftsmen from all over the empire and the means to pay for it." Read more at The Art Newspaper.

Historical Context and Origins

Mughal painting has its roots in the Timurid painting tradition of Persia and Central Asia. The Mughal emperors were descended from two great conquerors: Timur (Tamerlane) on their father's side and Genghis Khan on their mother's side. The first Mughal emperor, Babur (1483-1530), invaded the Indian subcontinent in 1526 and established the empire. Babur was a patron of Persian culture, but he did not establish a painting workshop.

The tradition began under Babur's son Humayun (1508-1556), who spent years in exile in Persia after losing his kingdom. While in Tabriz, Humayun saw the work of Persian painters and was impressed. When he returned to India in 1555, he brought back two Persian master painters: Mir Sayyid Ali and Abd al-Samad. These artists had contributed to major Persian commissions, including the Shahnameh of Shah Tahmasp, one of the greatest Persian manuscripts ever produced. They established the first Mughal painting workshop and began training Indian artists in Persian techniques.

Before the Mughals, painting in India was already well developed. Sultanate kingdoms of northern India maintained active links with the court ateliers of Iran and Afghanistan. Workshops in Delhi and Bengal recruited Indian artists trained in Hindu and Jain traditions. By 1500, painting styles in India were on the cusp of a revolution. Highly influential schools of Hindu devotional manuscript painting were being produced in northern India, and a radical innovation had occurred in which the pictorial component predominated over the textual. The image was taking over the page, and the text was being relegated to a line or two on the upper margin. This pre-Mughal tradition provided the Indian foundation on which the Persian emigre artists built.

The fusion of Indian and Persian painting styles was the catalyst for the radical developments that mark the first half of the 16th century. The Metropolitan Museum of Art's publication Wonder of the Age: Master Painters of India, 1100-1900 documented this transition, noting that the Hamzanama was "conceived for highly charged show-and-tell" rather than as a conventional illustrated manuscript. Read more at Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Key Artists and Pioneers

Akbar (1542-1605, reigned 1556-1605)

Akbar was the patron who transformed Mughal painting from a Persian import into a distinct tradition. Although illiterate, Akbar was a diligent patron who took a personal interest in the artists, texts, and ideas in his workshop. A contemporary chronicler claimed that Akbar employed 100 artists, though only a few dozen names are known. The artists belonged to families Hindu and Muslim, grand and humble, subscribing to European, Persian, and Indian influences. The most ambitious project of Akbar's reign was the Hamzanama, a manuscript of the adventures of Amir Hamza with approximately 1,400 large canvas paintings. In one remarkable surviving leaf, two distinct hands are visible: an Indian and an Iranian, working simultaneously on the same painting.

Jahangir (1569-1627, reigned 1605-1627)

Jahangir was a hands-on bibliophile who took an even more personal interest in painting than his father. In several surviving works, Jahangir's spidery royal handwriting labels paintings as the work of specific artists. During Jahangir's reign, brushwork became finer, colors became lighter, and European influence became more pronounced. Jahangir came into direct contact with the English Crown and received gifts of oil paintings, including portraits of the King and Queen. He encouraged his artists to adopt European single-point perspective, unlike the flattened multi-layered style of traditional miniatures. He particularly encouraged paintings depicting events of his own life, individual portraits, and studies of birds, flowers, and animals.

Mansur (active c. 1590-1620)

Mansur was the leading naturalist painter of the Mughal court. Jahangir gave him the title Nadir al-Asr, "Unparalleled of the Age." Mansur specialized in depictions of animals and birds, rendered with scientific precision. His paintings of the Himalayan chir pheasant, the Siberian crane, and the zebra that was presented to Jahangir in 1621 are among the most celebrated natural history paintings in Indian art. Mansur's work reflects Jahangir's interest in the natural world and the imperial workshop's role in documenting the empire's flora and fauna.

Abu'l-Hasan (active c. 1600-1630)

Abu'l-Hasan was a former child prodigy whose talent developed into mastery. Jahangir awarded him the title Nadir al-Zaman, "Wonder of These Times," and wrote in his memoir that his work was "perfect" and "a masterpiece of the age." His Squirrels in a Plane Tree (c. 1605-1610) shows the influence of European painting in its naturalistic rendering of the animals and its use of spatial depth, while the composition retains the decorative precision of the Persian tradition.

Govardhan and Bichitr (active early 17th century)

Govardhan and Bichitr were Hindu artists who worked in the imperial workshop alongside Muslim and Persian painters. Both produced paintings that depict the Mughal emperors in dynastic settings. Bichitr's painting of Timur passing the imperial crown to Babur, with Humayun watching, and Govardhan's painting of Akbar handing his crown to Shah Jahan, were once part of the same Muraqqa (collector's album). These paintings incorporate both Persian and local influences and are examples of the syncretism that characterized Mughal painting in the early 17th century. Read more at Apollo Magazine.

Sahifa Banu (active early 17th century)

Sahifa Banu is one of at least two women artists known to have worked in the Mughal imperial workshop. The V&A's 2025 exhibition included a vanishingly rare work by a named female artist, Sahifa Banu. As curator Susan Stronge noted, "we don't know very much about the male artists, but we know literally nothing about the women." The painting is a tantalizing glimpse of the level of cultural and economic empowerment enjoyed by elite women at the Mughal court.

Real Paintings and Examples

The Hamzanama (c. 1557-1573) is the most ambitious painting project of the early Mughal period. It consists of approximately 1,400 large canvas paintings, each over two feet tall, illustrating the adventures of Amir Hamza, an uncle of the Prophet Muhammad. The paintings were held up for the imperial eye to pore over during literary recitations. In one remarkable surviving leaf, you can discern two distinct hands at work: an Indian painter who rendered the figures and an Iranian painter who painted the landscape. The Hamzanama is the key milestone in the development of the new Mughal art, showing the fusion of Persian and Indian traditions in a single object.

Abu'l-Hasan's Squirrels in a Plane Tree (c. 1605-1610, British Museum) shows squirrels climbing a tree with naturalistic detail that reflects European influence. The painting demonstrates Jahangir's interest in the natural world and the workshop's ability to absorb European techniques while maintaining the decorative precision of the Persian tradition.

Mansur's painting of a zebra (1621, Victoria and Albert Museum) documents an animal presented to Jahangir by a Turkish ambassador. The painting is rendered with scientific precision, showing the zebra's stripes in careful detail. It is both a work of art and a document of the empire's global reach.

Bichitr's dynastic painting showing Timur passing the crown to Babur (c. 1628-1630) depicts the first five Mughal emperors and their legendary ancestor sitting peacefully together under scarlet canopies. The painting is an imperial mythography, confident in the endurance of its own power, produced by a Hindu artist working in a multicultural, multilingual imperial studio.

The Padshahnama (c. 1630-1640), produced during Shah Jahan's reign, is an illustrated chronicle of the emperor's reign with some of the finest Mughal paintings ever produced. The Windsor Padshahnama, held in the Royal Library at Windsor Castle, contains 44 paintings and 2 illuminations depicting court ceremonies, battles, and royal events with extraordinary detail and rich color.

Timeline and Evolution

Mughal painting spans roughly 300 years, from the 16th to the 19th century. Humayun brought Persian painters to India in 1555. Akbar's reign (1556-1605) saw the creation of the Hamzanama and the establishment of the imperial workshop. Jahangir's reign (1605-1627) refined the style with finer brushwork, lighter colors, and European influence. Shah Jahan's reign (1628-1658) produced the Padshahnama and some of the most technically accomplished Mughal paintings. Aurangzeb's reign (1658-1707) saw the decline of imperial patronage, though some of the best Mughal paintings were reportedly made for Aurangzeb by artists who believed he was about to close the workshops. There was a brief revival under Muhammad Shah (1719-1748), but by the time of Shah Alam II (1759-1806), Mughal painting had lost its glory. By that time, other schools of Indian painting had developed, including Rajput painting in the courts of Rajasthan and Company painting under Western influence. A 2025 paper in the Journal of the British Academy investigated the dynamic cultural circulation between the Mughal imperial atelier and regional Indian painting traditions, challenging rigid stylistic classifications and foregrounding the mobility of artists and the reciprocal exchange of techniques. Read more at British Academy.

Related Terms

Mughal painting is connected to miniature painting as a broader tradition and to Persian painting as its direct ancestor. The technique of painting on paper with gouache relates to gouache as a medium. The Mughal tradition's influence on later Indian painting connects to Rajput painting and Company painting. The tradition of manuscript illustration connects to illumination and calligraphy. For more on non-Western art traditions, read about Islamic geometric art and Chinese landscape painting. For broader context, explore our post on popular art styles and how to recognize them.

See Mughal Painting in Person

The Victoria and Albert Museum in London holds one of the finest collections of Mughal painting in the world, including works from the Hamzanama and paintings by Mansur and Abu'l-Hasan. The Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery in Washington, D.C., have significant holdings. The Metropolitan Museum of Art has an extensive collection of Indian painting, including Mughal works. The Chester Beatty Library in Dublin holds one of the finest collections of Mughal manuscripts outside India. The National Museum in New Delhi and the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya in Mumbai hold major collections within India.

If you want to trace Mughal painting, start at the V&A for the Hamzanama and the naturalist paintings of Jahangir's court, visit the Met for a broad overview of Indian painting, and look at the Chester Beatty Library for the finest manuscript holdings. You will see a painting tradition that was the product of empire, where Persian, Indian, and European influences met in a workshop that produced some of the most technically sophisticated paintings in the history of art. For more, read our entries on miniature painting and calligraphy, or explore our post on the complete guide to art movements.