Introduction
A dream deals with thoughts, images, or emotions that are actualized when people are sleeping. Historically, human beings have attached great importance to dreams and construed them in different ways (Dayyeri & Egbali). In some cases, people consider dreams as a widow to sanctities, past, future, or the dead world. Jahangir, the king of India who reigned in the 17th century was much interested in dreams and their interpretations (Dayyeri & Egbali).
Some scientists say that this interest stemmed from his addiction to opium. Jahangir developed the habit of sharing his thoughts through the artwork of painting by asking his hired artists to draw those dreams. In one of his dreams, Jahangir dreamed that he was embracing the emperor of Iran, Shah Abbas, and so ordered his craftsperson to put that to paper on one of his artistic images. This paper analyzes and explains the dream depicted in the miniature painting, focusing on how the portrait and landscape genres are formally presented, and the reasons as to why the artwork was done.
Discussion
The painting combines the genres of narrative portrait painting and landscape. The artist has used figures of a lion, a lamb, humans, and natural scenes in the background (Johnson). In the center of the image, we see two figures standing on the two animals. These figures represent Emperor Jahangir of India and Shah Abbas of Persia embracing and are an allegorical representation of the friendship between the Mughal and Safavid empires (Hist 259). Behind them are two circular forms of the earth and moon, which create an hourglass vertical symmetry. Jahangir is painted on the right, which is seen by his Indian dress, and Abbas, in his Persian clothes, is portrayed on the left. Further, the allusion to the whole world is incorporated through the drawings of the sun, moon, and globe.
While the painting shows Emperor Jahangir of India and Shah Abbas of Persia embracing and is an allegorical representation of the friendship between the Mughal and Safavid empires, at that time there was an uneasy tension between the rulers of India and Iran (Hist 259). Thus, Shah Abbas sought to retake Kandahar, which had an important commercial and strategic position. To do this, he needed to lull the vigilance of the Indians. In 1611-1620, numerous embassies with presents were sent to India to show Persian peaceful intentions, while in reality, Shah Abbas planned an attack. The Mughals believed in the peacefulness of the Persians and apparently stopped overviewing the defense of Kandahar. The feeling of Jahangir’s superiority that the picture sought to demonstrate stemmed largely from the real situation when Abbas showed his subordinate position while planning an onslaught.
To demonstrate Jahangir’s power, the painting cleverly manipulates the symbols of sovereignty. There is, the artist puts a globe that represents earthly power and portrays Jahangir as the most powerful leader in the world (Rice). Moreover, the check is embedded in gold color and sophisticated material wealth, which were the signs of influence at that time. These later symbols were introduced under the influence of Western culture that began to penetrate traditional Indian society and change it to reflect the value of material things over spiritual ones. The impact of Western culture is further seen in the jewelry and piercings Jahangir wears that symbolize wealth and earthy affluence. Moreover, there are the images of sun and moon from a large gold that signify that the Indian emperor is the light of the Indian region (Abu’l Hasan, Emperor Jahangir Embraces Shah).
Apart from the hopeful resolution of the Kandahar conflict, in which Jahangir believed his position superior to that of Shah Abbas, the painting demonstrates the power games that were going on in politics at the time. Thus, both countries wanted to dominate the Indio-Pacific region where their interests collided. The control over trade routes was thought by both parties. In this context, the dream is a manifestation of the ruler’s political ambitions, and personal interests (Dayyeri & Egbali).
During that period, emperors used painting and writing experts to put together pieces of art to demonstrate their power, influence, and wealth. Such works were seen and interpreted as ways to define the leaders’ legacies on the world stage. Though the work is not an official portrait, Jahangir wanted superiority to be manifested in a traditional way for his descendants to see his power and among the world’s leaders.
This painting is an opaque watercolor with gold and ink on paper. The colors the painter uses are warm, the dominant colors being yellow and pink with a high range of shades that help the picture come alive. These colors are in harmony with each other and serve to create the impression of peace and prosperity coming from the picture. Blue and orange, red and green colors are complementary, that is why they look harmonious
The painting has realistic details and anatomical accuracy, especially in the animals, but it is rather flat and stylized. Essentially, the painting is a classic example of Mughal paintings, in which animals are realistically drawn and have a flowery line around the center of the picture. However, the Western influence is seen in the posture and depiction of Emperor Jahangir of India and Shah Abbas, who are realistically portrayed half in profile, while the realistic portrayal of people has never been a feature of traditional Indian painting. The picture is marked by lines and delicate brushwork and provides artistic intimacy. In addition, it shows exaggerated physical traits and bold color effects, such as the combination of bright blue sky and yellow sun with the scarlet and green clothes of Abbas and Jahangir. The combination of colors belonging to different color groups is unique and creates the effect of festivity, especially with the combination of red-golden and blue-golden frames that run around the central image.
Additionally, the painting was full of portraiture, nature studies, and landscapes. The portraits carefully imitate the facial features, clothing, jewelry, footwear, turbans, and weapons of the Mughal ruler. This adds verisimilitude to the picture and helps the viewers to correspond the images to their protagonists. The picture is symmetrical in that each side of the picture contains similar details: the ruler, the animal, the sun, the globe, and the flowery pattern.
The symmetry adds balance to the composition making it visually effective. Balance is achieved by the mastery of creating every element with its pair and the globe is with the sphere that looms over the map The rectangular image in the center of the page takes up approximately the space of half a picture, which is a typical feature of Indian painting. The decorative floral border, done at a later time, serves to bring naturalistic ideas into the painting, where the rich vegetation of India, painted on the border, the birds, and the insects are arranged in such a way as not to leave empty spaces.
The most remarkable trait is how elements work together to create unity. There are design patterns that are the foundation of the piece with several vertical curves and lines that frame the central piece and add to the grandeur of the art as two rulers embrace each other. The use of soft and pastel colors together with bold red branching patterns shows the reconciliation gesture portrayed by the two leaders. The 3-D form is created through the use of curves that add to the naturalistic posture of the two men.
One of the brightest pages of Indian history is the era of the Mughals, who created a truly unique empire that reconciled people with different faiths. Mughal painting combined the older Persian art with new Indian style features. The combination gave sophistication and lightness to the manner of painting and is seen in multiple variants of its palette. The realism painting style dominated the art scene in the seventeenth century. Jahangir was ahead of his time in asking painters to use this technique as he was fond of portraiture, nature, and landscape illustrations. He did not idealize artwork as was the normal tradition in Persian aesthetics; instead, he preferred to see verisimilitude in the paintings he commanded to be created.
This painting, consequently, depicted his life and vision as a ruler through individual portraits, birds, flowers, and animals that symbolized his understanding and interpretation of his power against the strengths of his rival. Thus, the lion Jahangir is standing on, in Indian tradition, symbolizes bravery and nobility, and the flowers painted in the picture are associated with Jahangir’s love of nature.
Further, in his traveling to Europe, Jahangir was introduced to Western art. Later, one of the Europeans, having received an audience with Emperor Jahangir, and knowing about his love of art, presented to the ruler several canvases by Western painters, including Albert Durer’s painting “Madonna and Child” (Jaykrushna, 2020). It is believed that from this time the acquaintance of Indian artists with the works of European colleagues began. Despite the temporary strengthening of the influence of orthodox Islam that informed the inclusion of Islamic art in the paintings, Jahangir showed considerable religious tolerance. Thus, he was liberal and allowed people to profess and subscribe to any religion (Dayyeri & Egbali).
Islamic art of that period developed from book illustrations, but was quickly turned into an independent genre. The painters of that time developed an excellent painting system in which color, form, composition, and expression were combined to create one whole. The protagonists of these paintings, as a rule, are idealized and live in a beautiful world. Workshops of miniatures were most often the shah’s libraries, or kitabkhane (Jaykrushna, 2020).
At the same time, the political relationship between India and Iran over the disputed Kandahar region was tense (Dayyeri & Egbali). While both countries wanted to politically control the Indo-Pacific region, they sought to take each other’s territory. This rivalry found its way into painting when painters from both countries sought to give tribute to their ruler portraying him in the most advantageous light. Moreover, the Iranians gave preference to dark colors while Murgab painters preferred bright ones (Jaykrushna, 2020).
Conclusion
The artwork presents an interpretation of a dream depicting Jahangir embracing the Safavid king Shah Abbas. Through the painting, the artist revealed the manifestation of Jahangir’s political ambitions, personal interests, and ideals of beauty. The painting is colorful and creates the impression of prosperity and wealth largely due to the wide use of colors with a high range of shades. The picture abandons flowers and other natural features that add form and meaning to the central piece depicting the two men. The painting offers a reflection on the rulers’ respective positions in the world, with Jahangir holding a superior position compared to his Indian colleague. The drawing with Jahangir standing on a lion serves to show his bravery, voracity, prowess, intellect, pride, and power over Abbas.
Works Cited
“Abu’l Hasan, Emperor Jahangir Embraces Shah.” Smart History, 2022.
Dayyeri, Nayyereh, and Egbali, Parviz. “Decoding the Symbolic Elements of the Image of Jahangir Embracing Shah Abbas: An Iconological Approach.” Journal of History Culture and Art Research, 2017, vol. 6, no.1, 627. Web.
“Paintings from the Royals Ateliers: Allegorical Representation of Emperor Jahangir and Shah Abbas.” Smithsonian Institution.
Jaykrushna, Drashti. “Portraits and Figurative Paintings of Jahangir’s Era.” Gujarat University, 2020, vol.12, no. 5, 392-410.
Johnson, Dick. “Vocabulary Term: Narrative Relief.” E-Sylum, 2020, vol. 23, no. 40.
Rembrandt and the Inspiration of India. 2022. Rice, Yael. “Jahangir’s Dream,” Khamseen. 2020.