CONTENTS
List of Illustrations
Black & White Illustrations
Plaque with galloping horse and rider. Uttar Pradesh, Gupta period, fourthfifth century. Terracotta with red pigment, 21.3 25.5 7.3 cm. The Art Institute of Chicago, gift of Paul F. Walter and Marilyn Walter Grounds.
The tomb of Ibrahim Khan in Narnaul, Haryana. Photo by Ishita Gupta.
Nur Mahal, near Jalandhar in Punjab, India. Photo by Yashaswini Chandra.
Outer wall, Ramachandra Temple, Hampi, Karnataka. Photo by Toby Sinclair.
The sea trade in horses. Wall painting in the gopuram interior, Narumpunatha (Shiva) temple, Tiruppudaimarudur, Tamil Nadu, circa seventeentheighteenth century. Photo by Crispin Branfoot.
Mounted archer. Wall painting in the Vairochana Temple 1/Shakyamuni Lhakhang, Mangyu monastery, Ladakh, circa eleventhtwelfth century. Photo by Peter van Ham.
An archery competition. Mughal, circa 1600. Opaque watercolour, ink and gold on paper mounted on paperboard, 43.7 31.4 cm (overall). Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, purchase Smithsonian Unrestricted Trust Funds, Smithsonian Collections Acquisition Program, and Dr Arthur M. Sackler, S1986.428.
Hero stone, Jodhpur, Rajasthan. Photo by Yashaswini Chandra.
Revanta, Rohetgarh stables, Pali, Rajasthan. Courtesy of Sidharth Singh.
Horse-headed hilt of a dagger. Mughal, late seventeenthearly eighteenth century. Nephrite, 12.4 7 cm. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Rogers Fund, 1915.
The Battle of Haldhighati in 1576. Attributed to Chokha, from the James Tod collection, Udaipur, Rajasthan, circa 1820. Opaque watercolour on paper, 20.3 30.5 cm. Royal Asiatic Society, London/Wikimedia Commons.
A pair of horses at a watering trough, Pushkar livestock fair, Rajasthan, 2017. Photo by Dinesh Khanna.
Equestrian portrait of Maharana Bhim Singh. By Ghasi, Udaipur-Mewar, Rajasthan, circa 1825. Opaque watercolour and gold on paper, 20.3 30.5 cm (overall). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, purchase, gift of Paul E. Manheim and bequest of Nina Bunschaft, by exchange, 2006.
Eight anna postage stamp featuring the Kathi or Kathiawari horse issued by the princely state of Junagadh in 1928. Courtesy of Divyabhanusinh.
First Colour Section
A horse on the fairgrounds, Pushkar livestock fair, 2017. Photo by Dinesh Khanna.
Kalki avatar, the future incarnation of Vishnu. Basohli, Jammu, circa 170010. Ink, opaque watercolour and gold on paper, 17.1 26.7 cm. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, gift of Cynthia Hazen Polsky.
The Prophet Muhammad mounted on Buraq, on his miraculous night journey from Mecca to Jerusalem. Deccan, folio 12b from the Khalili Falnama MSS 979, circa 161030. Ink, opaque watercolour, gold and silver on paper, 41 28.4 cm (folio). The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, London.
A group of eight horse merchants, consisting mainly of Afghans. Delhi, folio from the Fraser Album, circa 181620. Opaque watercolour on paper, 22.2 30.8 cm. Collection of Prince and Princess Sadruddin Aga Khan.
Group of Afghan figures beneath trees. Attributable to Ghulam Ali Khan, circa 181520. Opaque watercolour on paper, laid down on card, 30.4 40.2 cm. Collection of William and Olivia Dalrymple.
Riding scene. Wall painting in the Sumtsek, Alchi monastery, Ladakh, circa late eleventhearly thirteenth century. Photo by Peter van Ham.
A nobleman returns to the hunt. Deccan, circa 1680. Opaque watercolour and gold on paper, 33 21.4 cm. Philadelphia Museum of Art, 125th Anniversary Acquisition, Alvin O. Bellak Collection, 2004.
Chand Bibi hawking with attendants in a landscape. Attributed to Deccan, circa 1700. Opaque watercolour, gold and silver on card-weight paper, 25.4 15.9 cm. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Louis E. and Theresa S. Seley Purchase Fund for Islamic Art, 1999.
Textile label depicting a female warrior woman (possibly Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi) for Graham. Bombay, late nineteenthearly twentieth century. Chromolithograph, 12.8 10.5 cm. Courtesy of the Museum of Art & Photography (MAP), Bengaluru, POP.03138.
Female warrior figure, possibly Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi. Circa nineteenth century, opaque watercolour on paper, 50.5 40 cm. Courtesy of the Museum of Art & Photography (MAP), PTG.01585.
Akbar welcomes his mother to India in 1557, detail of bottom-left corner. Inscribed to Dhanraj, Mughal, folio from an illustrated Akbarnama , circa 160305. Ink, pigments and gold in the nim qalam style, 43.3 26.8 cm (folio). Chester Beatty Library, Dublin.
Jahangirs stirrup is grasped by an angel. Attributed to Manohar, Mughal, illustration from a Diwan-i Hafiz , circa 1611. Opaque watercolour and gold on paper, 9.7 7.7 cm. The British Library Board, Or.7573, f.218v.
Equestrian portrait of Aurangzeb. Mughal, circa 166070. Opaque watercolour and gold on paper, 30.1 24.1 cm (painting). The British Library Board, J.3, 4.
Shah Jahan receives the Persian ambassador Muhammad Ali Beg, 1631. Mughal, painting from the illustrated Padshahnama , circa 1633. Opaque watercolour and gold on paper, 30.7 20.2 cm. Royal Collection Trust, UK/ Wikimedia Commons.
Shah Jahan on horseback. By Payag, Mughal, folio from the Shah Jahan Album, dated here to circa 163133. Ink, opaque watercolour and gold on paper, 38.9 25.7 cm. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, purchase, Rogers Fund and The Kevorkian Foundation Gift, 1955.
Equestrian portrait of Shah Jahan. Mughal, seventeenth century. Ink, opaque watercolour and gold on paper, 31.4 21.3 cm. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, gift of Alexander Smith Cochran, 1913.
Equestrian portrait of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. By Imam Bakhsh Lahori, Lahore, Punjab, circa 1843. Watercolour painting with gold, 26.9 20.4 cm (without frame). Royal Collection Trust, UK.
Second Colour Section
Details of a phad or cloth scroll painting depicting the epic of Pabuji. By Rajendra Joshi, Shahpura, Bhilwara, Rajasthan, circa 1990. Collection of Rupayan Sansthan, Jodhpur, photos by Kuldeep Kothari.
Jahangir playing polo. Attributed to Manohar, Mughal, illustration from a Diwan-i Hafiz , circa 1611. Watercolour on paper, 9.7 6 cm. The British Library Board, Or.7573, f.218v.
Prince Aurangzeb faces the elephant Sudhakar, 1633. Mughal, painting from the illustrated Padshahnama , circa 1635. Opaque watercolour and gold on paper, 24.3 40.2 cm. Royal Collection Trust, UK.
Equestrian portrait of a woman on a white stallion in a courtyard. Wall painting in the Chitrashala, Taragarh fort, Bundi, Rajasthan, circa mid-eighteenth to mid-nineteenth century. Photo by Dinesh Khanna.
Maharaja Man Singh playing polo with royal ladies. By Shivdas Bhatti, Jodhpur-Marwar, Rajasthan, circa 1827. Opaque watercolour and gold on paper, 38.7 54.5 cm. Courtesy of the Mehrangarh Museum Trust and His Highness Maharaja Gaj Singh of Jodhpur.
The stallion Kitab. By Bhavani Das, Kishangarh, Rajasthan, circa 1735. Transparent and opaque watercolour and gold on paper, 25.4 33.3 cm. Philadelphia Museum of Art, 125th Anniversary Acquisition, Alvin O. Bellak Collection, 2004.
A Turki horse and its rider. By Maharaj Kumar Sawant Singh, Kishangarh, mid-eighteenth century. Drawing on paper, 24 17.4 cm. Nitin Bhayana Collection, New Delhi.
A Rajput connoisseur in his court studies a Shalihotra manuscript on horses. Attributed to Kota, Rajasthan, circa 1820. Opaque watercolour on paper, 30.8 24.3 cm. Private Collection.
Two illustrations of horses from a Shalihotra manuscript. Rajasthan, nineteenth century, 23 18.5 cm (folio). Rajasthan Research Oriental Institute, Jodhpur, MS 8566.
