Art has always created the most powerful images of historical events. Eugene Delacroix’s painting Liberty Leading the People became an icon of the French Revolution. The Roman sculpture of the Dying Gaul symbolised the defeat of a worthy opponent. And Benjamin West’s painting of the Mughal emperor Shah Alam handing over tax collecting rights to Robert Clive marked the beginning of the British takeover of India.

Kings engaged artists to enhance their status. In the reception hall of the Palace of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal, visitors would be suitably filled with awe by huge reliefs of the king killing lions almost barehanded.

Sometimes, images alter history. Sculptures in Washington DC’s Capitol Hill depict Native Americans kneeling and offering gifts to the European conquerors. The image of Christ, once depicted as dark haired, dark-eyed and with a Middle Eastern complexion, changed into a blonde and blue-eyed prophet of white nations.

Few empires can compete with the Mughals for recording important events in art. Mughal miniatures, valued today as exquisite artworks, were in fact documents of the time. The paintings depict meetings with dignitaries or Sufis, the selection of an heir, lavish dinners — including meal preparation — hunting trips, flora and fauna, entertainment, battles, or even fantastical accounts such as the legends of Amir Hamza. With such a legacy, the absence of historical paintings in Pakistan is a puzzle.

Why have most of the Subcontinent’s artists shied away from drawing on subject matter from history?

Contemporary Pakistani art is known to be political, boldly addressing global and national politics and social issues, and could well be seen as history paintings for future generations. However, the eventful times from the end of the Mughal Empire to the 1990s are barely documented in art.

Looking at the work of Ravi Varma, Abdur Rehman Chughtai or Ustad Allah Baksh, one would never guess it was a time of great social and political upheaval. Those times were documented by European artists or local artists commissioned by the British rulers, or travelling artists fascinated by the exotic people and places of the Subcontinent.

The death of Tipu Sultan, and the 1857 uprising, were depicted from the British perspective. Lady Butler, known as the greatest British military painter, made one of the few paintings of British defeat — William Brydon barely alive on his horse, the only survivor out of 16,500 during the Afghan War of 1842. Even the most iconic photographs of the Partition were taken by American photographer Margaret Bourke-White.

It is understandable that, in the chaos and lack of patronage so necessary for art, local artists were unable to record events. That was left to the poets and speeches of freedom fighters. However, the genre of history paintings did not take hold in either India or Pakistan, in which the artist seeks subject matter from the near or distant past.

This reflects the hesitation to reflect on history, a contentious subject in both countries. Who was the victor and who the victim? Who ruled and who was ruled? India wipes out Muslim contributions to the freedom movement. Pakistan revises its history with each government change.

Many countries are charged with ‘managing’ history — the USA erased slavery and the genocide of Native Americans, Europeans do not want to dwell on the dark side of colonialism, Australia defines itself as a white country. History is seen as an essential tool for creating a patriotic narrative, and a sense of belonging.

As Pakistani society reels in a raqs-e-bismil (dance of the wounded), nostalgia for lost values and lifestyles are seen in the sharing of vintage images on social media. Yet history remains a static lifeless subject.

Historic personalities are presented two-dimensionally, uncontextualised in personal, social or political narratives. Public curiosity about the past is awakened by recountings in art, literature, film, television, museums and books.

The blank canvases of history are waiting to be filled with Fa Hien’s travels; Alexander’s loss of his favourite horse, Bucephalus, on the banks of the river Jhelum; the six brothers who battled the seas, whose graves lie unnoticed in Karachi’s Gulbai (once Kul Bhai); Akbar’s birth at Umerkot to an emperor in exile; the bustling bazaar of Shikarpur; the mini Stonehenge of Gadap; and so much more that makes the history of this region full of untold stories.

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

Published in Dawn, EOS, September 3rd, 2023