From the Jacket

'Painting in Punjab' is a doctoral thesis approved by Meerut (India). It is a first comprehensive survey of visual arts (miniature painting, illustrated manuscripts and mural painting) which flourished in the land of Five Rivers governed by the Lion of Punjab, Maharaja Ranjit Singh (1780-1839) as also the area reigned by East Punjab Rajas known as rulers of Cis-Sutlej i.e. Malwa state; Maharaja Narinder Singh (1845-1862) being the prominent among the patrons of art and learning whose contribution excelled all in this respect. The present study covers miniatures, illuminated manuscripts as well as the mural painting done in both the areas of Punjab thus discovering and establishing for the first time a definitive movement of visual arts, which existed in Punjab of nineteenth century.

This brings to the attention of scholarly world a rich style of painting known as 'Punjab Painting' hitherto unknown just like other Indian schools of painting viz Mughal, Rajput and Pahari painting with all the salient features of any art movement inherent in it. Special feature of the book lies in the fact that it sheds light on the social life of the painters who made creative and beautiful environments-royal and private both-but thus far remained in oblivion. Samultaneously it seeks to trace the presence of famous artists in both regions and their family genealogies which help us to track down the movement of art from one princely center to another.

One such family was Chughtai family which came from Heart (Persia) and settled in Lahore, and its members were responsible for significant contribution to creative arts of Punjab specially during the life time of Mahraja Ranjit Singh in the capital town of Lahore.

Unique feature of the book is that it offers to the reader an opportunity to see the flowering of Vaishnavite art in the courts of tolerant Sikh rulers of both trans-Sutlej as well as Cis-Sutlej areas of Punjab.

About the Author

Born 1932 at Roorkee (U.P.), M. A., Ph. D, in History of Art with title "Painting in Punjab: Study in Art and Culture" from Meerut University, Meerut. Edited special issue to The Sikh Sansar, Red-wood City (Calif.) U.S.A., devoted to Sikh Art, in 1973-74; "Patronage of Fine Arts under the Sikh Rulers of Punjab" in 1973-74 in Indian Historical Review; "Painting in Punjab" in 1979-80 in the Sikh Courier London; "S.G Thakur Singh: An Artist of Two Generations" in The Sikh Courier in 1977, London; "Manuscript as a source of Cultural History of India" in Vishveshvaranand Indological Journal, Hoshiarpur; "Abdul Rahman Chughtai: An Asian Artist of Mughal Ancestry" in Orientations, Hong Kong; "Muslim Architects and Artists of Maharaja Ranjit Singh" in Islamic Quarterly, London; "Rare Vaishnavite Manuscripts at Patiala" in B.O.I.R. Annals (poona); "Sikh Painting or Sikh School of Painting: A Myth or Reality" in V.I. Journal Vol. XIX Pt I & II-June-December, 1981, Hoshiarpur; "Some Reflections on the New Evidence of Punjab Painting" in The Sikh Review, Calcutta, October 1982 Vol XXX No. 346; Regular contributor to The Sikh Courier, London, and The Review, Calcutta and many other journals of repute in India and abroad. Serving the Punjab Education Department for the last twenty-nine years. Now actively engaged in teaching and research at Postgraduate Department of Fine Arts of Government College for Women, Patiala affiliated to Punjabi University, Patiala (Punjab), with effect from 1974. Life Member, Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Poona; Fellow, Royal Asiatic Society, London, England; Member-Asia, tic Society, Calcutta; Member, Indian Institute of Islamic Studies, New Delhi. Appointed UGC Visiting Fellow at Indira Kala Sangit University, Khairagarh (M.P.) 1983.