The Deccani Schools of Painting

2.1 Core concepts

The history of Deccani painting runs from the late sixteenth century until the 1680s — the moment when the Mughals conquered the Deccan and absorbed its independent Sultanates. The tradition then continues, in transformed shape, into nineteenth-century art and under the Asafiya dynasty / Nizam-ruled Hyderabad (NCERT §Intro, p. 55). For a long time the Deccani style was misclassified as Indo-Persian and treated as a derivative branch of Middle Eastern, Safavid, Persian, Turkish or Mughal art. NCERT corrects this historiographical error: the Deccan must be recognised as a full-fledged independent school sustained by rulers with a peculiar political and cultural vision of their own (NCERT §Intro, p. 55).

NCERT also makes an important comparative point. Highly documentary portraiture of historical and religious figures — a feature usually associated with Mughal art and broader Asian Islamic art — is also present in the Deccan. Mughal portraiture, in other words, was not wholly unique; the Deccan developed its own portrait genre in parallel. The kingdoms of Bijapur, Golconda and Ahmadnagar, located in the plateau region of southern India beyond the Vindhyas, developed a sophisticated court painting marked by unique sensuality, intense colours, dense composition and an aura of romance (NCERT §Intro, pp. 55–56).

The Ahmadnagar School is the chronological starting point. The earliest examples of Deccani painting are found in a volume of poems titled Tarif-i-Hussain Shahi, celebrating the reign of Hussain Nizam Shah I of Ahmadnagar (1553–1565). The manuscript contains twelve miniatures depicting battle scenes (of no particular artistic interest, NCERT notes drily) and depictions of the queen and her marriage (NCERT §Ahmadnagar, p. 56). The Ahmadnagar women wear a modified northern costume — a choli or bodice and long braided pigtails ending in a tassel — with a long scarf passing round the body below the hips in the southern fashion seen in the Lepakshi frescoes. The palette is richer and more brilliant than in northern manuscripts. The high circular horizon and the gold sky are markers of Persian influence, indicating the debt of all the Deccani kingdoms to Persia for their landscape idiom.

Ragamala paintings of the sixteenth century are the most striking sub-genre of Ahmadnagar-Bijapur production. Women have their hair rolled into a bun on the nape — again a Lepakshi convention — and the horizon disappears, replaced by a neutral ground patterned with stylised plants or symmetrical architectural domes. The male jama with pointed tails seen in early Akbari miniatures probably originated between Delhi and Ahmedabad; the small pagri is close to the earliest Akbari form. NCERT notes that the Gulistan manuscript of 1567 contains paintings attributed to Bukhara artists who may also have worked in the Deccan, indicating significant lateral cross-court mobility of artists. A manuscript at the Bankipore Library in Patna, signed by the scribe Yusuf, is dedicated to Ibrahim Qutb Shah of Golconda (1569, who ruled 1550–1580); it contains seven miniatures executed entirely in the Bukhara idiom (NCERT §Ahmadnagar, p. 57).

The Bijapur School is the richest section. A richly illustrated encyclopaedia, Nujum al-Ulum (1570), contains 876 miniatures depicting weapons, utensils and constellations; the women are shown in the tall, slender south Indian dress also found in the Ragamala paintings. Bijapur was patronised by Ali Adil Shah I (1558–1580) and his successor Ibrahim Adil Shah II (1580–1627) — both patrons of art and literature. Ibrahim II was an expert in Indian music and the author of the Nauras-nama; he owned the Nujum al-Ulum manuscript and may have commissioned the Ragamala series in the 1590s. Bijapur had close connections with Turkey, and the astronomical illustrations in the Nujum al-Ulum may derive from Ottoman Turkish manuscripts. The Ragamala set echoes the Lepakshi style of southern wall painting (NCERT §Bijapur, p. 57).

The single most celebrated Bijapur folio in this chapter is The Throne of Prosperity (1570) — a symbolic diagram of an auspicious throne of seven stages, supported by elephants, tigers, palm trees, peacocks and primitive tribes. The basic structures recall the wood-carved doorways and façades of Gujarati homes or Deccan temples; the arabesques on the top of the throne are in the Islamic Persian tradition. A second key Bijapur folio is the Yogini (17th century, Chester Beatty Library): a vertical composition with a long-standing figure complemented by a group of white architectural structures as a tapering visual note. The Yogini is in conversation with a myna bird; she is adorned with elaborate jewellery, has an elongated hair bun and long swirling scarves (NCERT §Bijapur, pp. 57–58).

The Golconda School is the third strand. Golconda became an independent state in 1512 and, by the end of the sixteenth century, was the wealthiest Deccan kingdom — sustained by brisk trade from the east coast ports, iron and cotton exports to Southeast Asia, and trade with Persia. Early in the seventeenth century the discovery of diamonds dramatically expanded its revenues. Golconda art became popular in Europe as Dutch merchants carried Sultans' portraits to European markets in the late seventeenth century. Early Golconda paintings of 1635–1650 were sometimes as large as eight feet high and served as wall hangings rather than album miniatures (NCERT §Golconda, pp. 58–59).

The earliest five Golconda miniatures are bound into the Diwan of Hafiz, dated 1463. The court scenes show a young ruler enthroned, holding a typically long straight Deccani sword and wearing a white coat with embroidered vertical bands. The pages are lavishly enriched with gold and deep azure sky; the architecture is symmetrical and unfunctional; the palette includes distinctive purple hues; sometimes animals are coloured blue (e.g., blue foxes). The painting suggests no Mughal influence at this stage. A portrait of Muhammad Qutb Shah (1611–1626) on a divan shows him wearing the typical Golconda dress and an elegant tight-fitting cap; the composition has gained sophistication, the symmetry of the 1590 pages is retained, and there is a marked plastic rendering in the drapes (NCERT §Golconda, pp. 59–60).

A Sufi poem manuscript with paraphrased prose is illustrated with more than twenty Golconda miniatures; its peculiar feature is the sky shown in gold and blue in separate bands; trees are of the Deccani type, richly coloured with tinted edges; plants are silhouetted against dark foliage; costumes indicate fashion under Ibrahim II of Bijapur. The Composite Horse (Golconda, early 17th century) is one of the most distinctive Golconda paintings: human figures are intertwined to form a galloping horse on a decorated background of flying cranes, lions, Chinese clouds and large-leaved plants. The surreal element is unmistakable; rocky formulations at the bottom anchor the painting; and the palette is restricted to brown and blue (NCERT §Composite Horse, p. 61).

A series of named picture studies follow. Sultan Ibrahim Adil Shah II Hawking is dominated by brilliant red on the horse's limbs and tail and on the flowing garment of the Sultan; the forest foliage is dark and dense (olive and emerald) with cobalt blue; cranes appear in the background; a white hawk sits at the centre. The horse and rocks show Persian influence; the foreground is native Indian. The painting is at the Institute of the Peoples of Asia, Academy of Sciences, Leningrad (NCERT p. 62). Ragini Pathamsika of Raga Hindola (c. 1590–95, National Museum, New Delhi) is believed by scholars to be from Bijapur: arabesque on two domes, Devanagari script letters above, central female playing veena, vibrant red complemented by green, and a dark elephant with raised trunk in the left corner as a sign of welcome (NCERT p. 63).

The Sultan Abdullah Qutb Shah portrait at the National Museum carries a Persian inscription on top; he is enthroned and holds a sword — the symbol of political sovereignty — and a halo surrounds his head, signifying divinity (NCERT p. 64). The provincial painting Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya and Amir Khusrau is from Hyderabad, Deccan, and depicts the thirteenth-century Sufi saint listening to music played by his disciple Amir Khusrau; the style is naive and basic, but charming and narrative of a popular Indian theme (NCERT p. 65). Finally, Chand Bibi Playing Polo depicts Chand Bibi, the Queen of Bijapur who resisted the Mughal political attempts of Emperor Akbar; she is shown playing chaugan — the Indian name for equestrian polo. The work is a provincial painting in the National Museum (NCERT p. 66).

2.2 Definitions to memorise

2.3 Diagrams / processes to remember

Plates students should recognise visually for image-MCQs: Sultan Adil Shah II playing Tambura by Farrukh Beg (Bijapur, 1595–1600, National Museum, Prague, p. 55 chapter opener); Tarif-i-Hussain Shahi: King sitting on the Throne (Ahmadnagar, 1565–69, Bharata Itihasa Samshodaka Mandala, Poona, p. 56); Nujum al-Ulum: The Throne of Prosperity (Bijapur, 1570, Chester Beatty Library, Dublin, p. 57); Yogini (Bijapur, 17th century, Chester Beatty Library, p. 58); Dancing before Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah (Golconda, 1590, British Museum, London, p. 59); Poet in a Garden by Muhammad Ali (Golconda, 1605–1615, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, p. 60); Composite Horse (Golconda, early 17th c., p. 61); Sultan Ibrahim Adil Shah II Hawking (Leningrad, p. 62); Ragini Pathamsika of Raga Hindola (c. 1590–95, National Museum, New Delhi, p. 63); Sultan Abdullah Qutb Shah portrait (National Museum, p. 64); Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya and Amir Khusrau (Hyderabad provincial, National Museum, p. 65); Chand Bibi Playing Polo (National Museum, p. 66).

Memorise three stylistic feature sets: AHMADNAGAR — choli + braided pigtail with tassel + southern scarf + high circular horizon + gold sky; BIJAPUR — Lepakshi hair bun + neutral patterned ground + tall slender south Indian dress + arabesque + brilliant palette; GOLCONDA — gold-blue banded sky + Deccani trees with tinted edges + plastic-fold drapes + long straight sword + occasional blue animals + halo-and-sword portrait formula.

2.4 Common confusions / NTA trap points

• Students confuse the three centres: Ahmadnagar (Hussain Nizam Shah, Tarif-i-Hussain Shahi), Bijapur (Adil Shahs, Nujum al-Ulum, Yogini, Ragamala), Golconda (Qutb Shahs, Diwan of Hafiz, Composite Horse).
• Ibrahim II of Bijapur (1580–1627) is the music expert and author of Nauras-nama — NOT Ibrahim Qutb Shah of Golconda (1550–1580).
• The Deccani style was LONG CLASSIFIED as Indo-Persian but is actually a full-fledged independent school — a favourite NTA trap.
• Chaugan is the other name for POLO, not a type of dance or sword.
• Halo in Sultan Abdullah Qutb Shah's portrait symbolises DIVINITY; sword symbolises POLITICAL SOVEREIGNTY.
• The high circular horizon and gold sky reflect PERSIAN influence — not Mughal.
• Sultan Adil Shah II playing Tambura is by Farrukh Beg, in PRAGUE, not London.
• The Composite Horse uses BROWN and BLUE only — not the full Bijapur red.
• The Nujum al-Ulum has 876 miniatures (NOT 169 — which is Razm Nama).
• Chand Bibi is the Queen of BIJAPUR who resisted AKBAR — not of Ahmadnagar or Golconda.
• Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya & Amir Khusrau is HYDERABAD provincial — not Bijapur or Golconda.
• The Diwan of Hafiz is dated 1463, but the Golconda miniatures inside were added later.

2.5 Key artworks / artists