Mughal Art: A Study in Handicrafts

ABOUT THE BOOK An important aspect of Mughal att handicraft All the colour and glamuur dating splendour of the court domestic lives of the Great Mughals am their noblemen are the gifts of handicrafts Indeed without the artefact it would not havebeen possible for the Grand Mughals to bring down the Parade on Earth.

In view of the growing interest in Indian handicrafts in modern times an appreciation of Mughal handicraft gets a renewed validity. It, therefore, becomes our duty to study, understand and preserve what remains of this great treasury. The present work is an attempt to fill the vacuum in this field. It is for the firsttime thatabook on Mughal Handicraft is being brought out, and superbly so After a general discussion on the social political and economic conditions of Mughal India the author goes on to expound the sources of Mughal decorative arts and the designs of decoration and finally describes the various forms of Mughal handicrafts illustrating them with found on archaeological sites in India and select objects preserved in museums and private collection all over the world-all this in fascinating details.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Shanti Swarup, (b. is an emis ent Art Historian. After completing h Masters degree in History (1939) and a degree in Law (1942) from University of Allahabad, hestarted career as a lawyer at Azamgarh (U.P.). He, however, switched over to teaching and joined D.A.V.Postgraduate College, Azamgarh, as the Head of Department of History (1962). Pursuing his deep founded interest in Mughal Art, Sh. Swarup completed his doctorate from University of Gorakhpur on "Flora and Fauna in Mughal Art'. After his retirement from the college in 1977, he took up a Fellowship of the Indian Council of Historical Research.

While working on the project he went to England as a Visiting Scholar on the invitation of the British Council to study Mughal Handicraft in the museums in U.K. His major published works include Arts and Crafts of India and Pakistan, 5000 Years of Arts and Crafts of India and Pakistan and Flora and Fauna in Mughal Art.

PREFACE Handicraft in India is often considered to be a minor art and not as important as architecture, sculpture or painting It is also not studied as extensively or intensively as the other arts. This is unfortunate because handicraft is really integral to the so-called major arts, and much of the colour and design of beautiful and elegant living are the gals of handicraft Throughout the history of Indiathe spiritual and the material circumstances of society have been articulated through handicrafts The ancient Indians believed that handicraft isthe surest means of the salvation of our souls Similarly the emotional urges of the medieval Indian society found its fulfillment in the lovely creations of handicrafts The Mughals specially rejoiced in the appreciation of the radiantly beautiful products of handicraft in their dynamic pursuit of Beauty their artists time and again achieved perfection of craftsmanship and excellence of form, colour and design Mughal handicrafts also epitomise an art that assimilates within the national fabric influences from many sources, both castern and western Indeed Mughal handicraft is a great heritage of art. Is it not our duty to study it, understand it, and preserve it".

The present work is based on the final report of a research project entitled "Decorative designs in Mughal Handicrafts sponsored by the Indian Council of Historical Research. The British Council also took interest in the project and provided facilities to the author to study Mughal handicrafts in the museums of the United Kingdom, chiefly in the Victoria and Albert Museum which has its largest and richest collection in the world. As the work deals mainly with the decorative aspects of the Mughal handicrafts, an attempt has been made to trace the sources of ornamentation, analyse their different designs in an evolutionary process, and study the select pieces in the fields of stone and marble, jade, crystal and agate, gold, silver and precious stones, base metal, glass and textiles.

**Contents and Sample Pages**