The House of Bijapur

Artist| Chand Muhammad and Kamal Muhammad
Year| circa 1680
Dimensions| 41.3 cm × 31.1 cm (16.3 in × 12.2 in)[1]
Location| Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City

The House of Bijapur is a 17th century Deccan-style painting in the Bijapur school. It is currently housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York City.[2]

## Significance

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The House of Bijapur is of a larger size than most manuscript pictures, measuring sixteen by thirteen inches. It is also significant due to its subject matter; no other extant Bijapur paintings depict the members of the dynasty in a group, from the founder to the last ruler. Genealogical paintings of this sort, emphasizing the rulers' lineage, are known in Mughal art, and one of the most famous examples of this is the Princes of the House of Timur in the British Museum.[3]

The painting is one of the last works of the Bijapur school of miniature painting, representing the final phase of the style. It is dated to about 1680, and the Bijapur sultanate was conquered by the Mughals in 1686.

## Description

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Yusuf Adil Shah is seated on a golden throne with a key in his right hand, a sword in his left, and his right foot atop a globe.

The painting depicts eight of the nine rulers of the Bijapur Sultanate; leaving out only Mallu Adil Khan, whose reign lasted for only seven months.[4]

At the center is Yusuf Adil Khan, the progenitor of the dynasty. He is dressed in a green robe, the color symbolizing spiritual authority, and seated on a gilded throne, with a golden key in his right hand, a sword in his left, and with his right foot atop a globe. The key as well as the globe are motifs borrowed from Mughal paintings, used to symbolize the authority of the emperor.[5]

The final ruler, at the right edge, is Sikandar Adil Shah. He is depicted as a dark-skinned child of about ten to twelve years of age.[6]

At his right side is a standing figure, appearing to have just given the key to Yusuf. This figure, wearing a Safavid style turban, is identified as Shah Abbas in an inscription. However, scholars including Zebrowski assert that this inscription is a later, erroneous addition, and that the figure is likely Shah Ismail or Shaykh Safi Ardabili.[7]

Beyond the hilltops, the ocean is depicted. Some scholars are of the opinion that this alludes to the short period of time the Adil Shahis controlled the Goan coast, thus representing the kingdom at its zenith.[8]

At the base of the painting are two attendants resting their hands on a staff on the left, and a groom with a horse on the right, with a small staircase in the middle. B. N. Goswamy notes that a horse with a groom is to be interpreted as a sign of a recent arrival, and that perhaps here it symbolizes the arrival of the young ruler Sikandar to the group of Adil Shahi monarchs.[1]

The names of the artists, Kamal Muhammad and Chand Muhammad, are given in an inscription to the left.

## Derivative works

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A smaller iteration of this painting, in the Golconda school was among the fifty-five paintings collected by Niccolao Manucci.

## References

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1. ^ a b Goswamy, B. N. (2014-12-01). The Spirit of Indian Painting: Close Encounters with 100 Great Works 1100-1900. Penguin UK. ISBN 978-93-5118-862-9.
2. ^ Painting by Kamal Muhammad (active 1680s); Painting by Chand Muhammad (Indian, active 1680s), The House of Bijapur, retrieved 2024-12-06`{{citation}}`: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
3. ^ Hutton 2016, p. 1.
4. ^ Zebrowski 1983, p. 152.
5. ^ Hutton 2016, pp. 3–4.
6. ^ Michell, George; Zebrowski, Mark (2008-03-28). Architecture and Art of the Deccan Sultanates. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-139-05343-3.
7. ^ Zebrowski 1983, p. 150.
8. ^ Hutton 2016, p. 6.

## Bibliography

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* Zebrowski, Mark (1983). Deccani painting.
* Hutton, Deborah (2016). "Memory and Monarchy: A Seventeenth-Century Painting from Bijapur and its Afterlives". South Asian Studies. 32 (1): 22–41. ISSN 0266-6030.