Forum Pakistan

Basawan
Artist. Basawan was an Indian miniature painter of the late 16th/early 17th centuries. More than a hundred miniatures with his signature are among the manu cripts of Jarni's (1414-1492, full name: Nur oddin 'abdorRahman Ibn Ahmad) poems: Baharistan (1595, the Bodleian Library, Oxford), Darab Nama (1596, the
British Museum, London), Rarm. Nama or The Book of Battles (1584-89, the Maharaja's collection in Jaipur), Akbar Nama (1599-1600, the Victoria and Albert Museum, London), and others. Basawan was a skilful graphic artist and painter; he also painted masterful portraits and landscapes. An exceptional sense of composition enabled him to convey the images of human beings and animals in a highly expres ive manner and to create refined landscapes. Basawan widely used Indian tradition, his knowledge of Indian literature, mythology and his environment. He combined realism with great emotional intensity. His son, Manohar became an outstanding miniature painter in the first quarter of the seventeenth century.


WORKS: 'A Mullah Reproaches a Darweshfor Playing in Tom Clothes' (1595), Manuscript of Baharistan Jami, Bodleian Library, Oxford.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: W. Staude, 'Contribution a ['etude de Basawan', Revue des arts Asiatiques, t. V1II, Paris, 1932; W. Staude, 'Les artistes de la court d'Akbar et les illustrations des Dastan-i-Amir Hamra', Arts Asiatiques, t. 11, Paris, 1955.