Description
Paintings of the Razmnama: The Book of War
Razmnama, or ‘The Book of War’, is the magnificent Persian translation of the great Hindu epic, the Mahabharata.
The Mughal Emperor Akbar took a deep, personal interest in this monumental translation project. He invited learned men, well-versed with the epic, from all over the country to help his best Persian scholar-courtiers prepare the most authentic text possible. Once complete, master painters at his royal atelier produced a lavishly illustrated copy for his personal use. Akbar then invited his nobles to commission their own copies.
Out of the three known copies made, the three-volume Razmnama housed in the Birla Academy of Art & Culture, Kolkata, is the only one complete with 81 stunning miniatures. Most of these images are full-page spreads, and the text bears the name of the scribe and the date of completion—1605. These paintings are of immense interest to students of Mughal art, as they flawlessly combine the finest elements of the Mughal court style with the dynamic narrative style of storytelling. Instead of composing separate paintings for sequential events, the painters masterfully incorporated different stages of narrative detail within the frame of a single image. The 1605 Razmnama stands as a key document for the study of Mughal painting at the dawn of the 17th century.
Praise for the Book:
“If they were revered sacred texts, they were also the equivalent of our comic book and animated films.”
— Stuart Cary Welch (from the Introduction)
Table of Contents:
- Introduction
- The Making of Razmnama
- Imaging the Razmnama: The Razmnama Manuscript for Akbar and Other Copies
- The Birla Razmnama
- Catalogue of Illustrations
About the Author:
Asok Kumar Das is a visiting Professor at the School of Arts and Aesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi. He is the former Director of the Sawai Man Singh II Museum, Jaipur, and has also taught at Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan, holding the prestigious Satyajit Ray Chair. He has published extensively on different aspects of Mughal art and culture and recently edited the volume Mughal Masters: Further Studies.
By Asok Kumar Das | Introduction by Stuart Cary Welch
Book Specifications:
- Category: Art / Mughal History & Painting
- Pages: 192 pages
- Illustrations: 174 colour illustrations
- Dimensions: 8.5 x 11.75″ (216 x 298 mm), Hardcover (hc)
- ISBN: 978-81-88204-50-2
- Date of Publishing: 2005
- Language: English
- Publisher: Mapin
