The greatest legacy of the Mughal Empire is its contribution to the culture of South Asia, with exquisite paintings, textiles, jewellery, ornaments, clothing, music, dance, poetry, cuisine, architecture and garden design.

It was the age of elegance, and the tone was set by the emperors. Royalty the world over has surrounded itself with sumptuous luxury. What distinguished the Mughal empire was the personal nurturing of the arts by the emperors themselves, creating, inventing and refining them in state-sponsored karkhanas [workshops] established within the palace and its surroundings.

Artists and artisans were paid a salary, raw materials were provided, and an administrative staff saw to their needs and maintained their jama kharch [expense] records. The karkhanas produced everything the court needed, from furniture, carpets, tents, horse saddles, weaponry and coinage, to clothing, jewellery and perfume and, of course, art and architecture.

The emperors made weekly visits to the karkhanas, setting challenges, rewarding excellence and conferring titles. Artist Mir Sayyid Ali was bestowed the title Nadir-ul-Mulk, Khwaja Abdus Samad was Shirin Qalam, Abul Hasan was Nadir-uz-Zaman and Mansur was Nadir-ul-Asr. Abdus Samad was challenged to paint an elaborate scene on a grain of rice.

New themes for art emerged and experimentation was encouraged, which determined the course of art history. Emperor Jehangir, who prided himself on recognising the artist of each painting, introduced the study of nature, asking the artist to paint a lion, a chameleon or the flora of Kashmir.

Karkhanas were first established by the Tughlaqs in the 13th century. Firoz Shah Tughlaq said the ownership of a karkhana was as important as the governorship of a region. The Mughals took karkhanas to new heights of magnificence, inspiring courtiers and regional rulers to establish their own.

New textiles were developed, such as Malboos Khas [fine clothes] of silk interwoven with gold and silver, Khasa, Bafta, striped silk alachas, Zari, Kantha, Kamkhwab, Chickankari etc. Emperor Akbar employed 11,000 to convert these fabrics into splendid styles of clothing.

Not only was art and culture elevated by royal patronage, the economy grew. The shawl-makers of Kashmir were taught new techniques and colour combinations. Royal workshops furnished with 40,000 looms brought prosperity to Kashmir.

All this ended abruptly in 1857 when the last Mughal Emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar, was captured by the British and exiled to Rangoon. General Wilson transferred his headquarters to the abandoned palace and had dinner in the Dewan-e-Khas, surrounded by the splendour of the court which, in a few blood-soaked days, turned into a thing of the past. Artists and artisans escaped to smaller kingdoms and the generous Mughal patronage came to an end.

Ironically, a new form of state patronage began, this time by the British rulers of India. Their motive was not aesthetic joy as it was for the Mughals, but economic gain, in keeping with the colonial adventure.

Inspired by the success of Indian products at the Crystal Palace exhibition in London in 1851, the main curator, Henry Cole, persuaded the government to establish a Department of Science and Arts, to give impetus to industrial capitalism. Arindam Dutta calls it “The Bureaucracy of Beauty.”

Design schools and museums were established across India. The curriculum was uniformly applied across the British Empire. While it inspired the Arts and Crafts movement in Britain and the Bauhaus in Germany, the project failed in India. The British completely misread the dynamics of the family-based craft communities. Design schools became art schools.

Art patronage is a delicate matter. Until the 19th century, as in South Asia, all European art was commissioned with a mutual sensitivity between artist and patron. Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Rubens, Velasquez could produce their best art only because they had patrons. It was the same for architects and classical music composers. Roosevelt’s New Deal funding for artists in the midst of the Great Depression of the 1930s enabled a new chapter in American art history.

Sadly, the central place of art has been lost in what became Pakistan. Several hundred billions of rupees are given annually in charity, motorways and grand buildings are constructed, sports are funded, but there is no patronage for the arts. Sadequain was an exception, producing 47 murals for public places. The wealthy rarely work with artisans and the crafts have become static. Pakistani artists and musicians have, using their own resources, made a name for Pakistani art and music across the world.  

An important message of the New Deal is that art and culture promoted across society can unite people, especially in a time of turmoil.

Durriya Kazi is a Karachi-based artist. She may be reached at durriyakazi1918@gmail.com

Published in Dawn, EOS, November 28th, 2021