Jahangir: naturalism and albums

Jahangir (1605-1627) had his own atelier even as a prince, with Aqa Riza and his son Abul Hasan. His memoir, the Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri, shows his keen interest in scientifically correct pictures of plants and animals.

Unlike Akbar's big team projects, Jahangir preferred fewer, finer works by single masters. Muraqqas, albums of individual paintings with margins decorated in gold, became popular.

European gifts brought Christian themes, a sense of spatial depth, and symbols such as haloes. Mughal art became a melting pot of Indian, Persian and European styles.

Famous works:

• Jahangir in Darbar (by Abul Hasan and Manohar, 1620): realistic portraits of the courtiers, arranged by rank, even the Jesuit Father Corsi.
• Jahangir's Dream (by Abul Hasan, given the title 'Nadir al Zaman'): Jahangir embraces Shah Abbas of Persia, standing on a globe; a lion lies with a sheep; angels hold a halo around him.
• Bichitra's Jahangir enthroned on an Hourglass (1625): the emperor prefers a Sufi sheikh to kings.

Ustad Mansur ('Nadir ul Asr') painted animals with scientific care: a falcon on a bird rest (1615), and a zebra from Ethiopia, presented at Nowruz 1621, which Jahangir examined closely to check that its stripes were real.