The Deccani Schools of Painting
Bijapur
Enjoy colour and fantasy.
Bijapur's Nujum al-Ulum ('Stars of Sciences', 1570) is an encyclopaedia with 876 miniatures of weapons, utensils and constellations. Its astronomy may come from Ottoman Turkish books.
Ali Adil Shah I and Ibrahim Adil Shah II were great patrons. Ibrahim II was a musician, and wrote a book of songs, the Nauras-nama. The Ragamala series of the 1590s echoes Lepakshi, with daring colours and simple, vigorous compositions.
The Throne of Prosperity shows a seven-stage auspicious throne, supported by elephants, tigers, palms, peacocks and tribal figures: a Gujarati and Deccani structure, with Persian colour and arabesques, under a deep blue sky.
Yogini has a vertical composition: a tall, jewelled woman talking to a myna bird, with swirling scarves, white buildings above, and rich plants around her.
Ibrahim Adil Shah II hawking shows brilliant reds, a dense green forest, a golden-blue sky, and a white hawk. Ragini Pathamsika (about 1590-95) has Persian arabesque domes, text in Devanagari, women with a veena, strong dark outlines, and a welcoming elephant.
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