Basawan
Encyclopedia
Basawan, or Basavan was an Indian miniature painter in the Mughal
Mughal painting
Mughal painting is a particular style of South Asian painting, generally confined to miniatures either as book illustrations or as single works to be kept in albums, which emerged from Persian miniature painting, with Indian Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist influences, and developed largely in the court...

 style. He was known by his contemporaries as a skilled colorist and keen observer of human nature, and for his use of portraiture in the illustrations of Akbarnama
Akbarnama
The ' , which literally means Book of Akbar, is the official chronicle of the reign of Akbar, the third Mughal Emperor , commissioned by Akbar himself and written in Persian by his court historian and biographer, Abul Fazl who was one of the nine jewels in Akbar's court...

, Mughal Emperor, Akbar's official Biography, which is seen as an innovation in Indian art
Indian art
Indian Art is the visual art produced on the Indian subcontinent from about the 3rd millennium BC to modern times. To viewers schooled in the Western tradition, Indian art may seem overly ornate and sensuous; appreciation of its refinement comes only gradually, as a rule. Voluptuous feeling is...

.

Biography

Little is known about his life, although his name suggests that he may have been part of the Ahir (cow-herding caste) in what is now Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...

. He became a court painter for Akbar the Great
Akbar the Great
Akbar , also known as Shahanshah Akbar-e-Azam or Akbar the Great , was the third Mughal Emperor. He was of Timurid descent; the son of Emperor Humayun, and the grandson of the Mughal Emperor Zaheeruddin Muhammad Babur, the ruler who founded the Mughal dynasty in India...

, where he came under the influence of Abd al-Samad.

Work

Over 100 paintings are attributed to Basawan. Most of them are illustrations for manuscripts. In many of them, Basawan was the designer, in collaboration with a second artist who supplied the color. Among the works that can definitely be attributed to Basawan are illustrations for the Razmnama, the Akbar-nama, the Darab-nama
Darab Nama
The Darab Nama is a Persian prose romance, written by the 12th-century writer Abu Taher Muhammad, in which the adventures of the Kayanid Iranian King Darab are recounted.-Author:Not much is known about the author...

, the Bahararistan of Jami, and the Timur-nama.

Basawan was one of the first Indian artists to be interested in western techniques, inspired by the European paintings brought to Akbar's court by Jesuit missionaries. It can be seen in his use of strong contrasts of light and shade, although Western influence is never predominant in his work. Basawan was also noted for his exploration of space, the delineation of his backgrounds, the strength of his colors, and his strong, moving characterizations of his subjects. Abu al-Fadl 'Allami, historiographer for Akbar the Great, wrote about Basawan: "In designing and portrait painting and colouring and painting illusionistically...he became unrivalled in the world.
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