Shaykh Abbasi and His Circle: Artistic Exchange Between Iran & India in the 17th Century

16 January 2020

Numerous painters, calligraphers and architects migrated from Iran and India over the centuries and especially in the sixteenth century. Whether searching for new patrons or escaping personal and professional challenges, these individuals were responsible for introducing new artistic ideals, which were selectively adopted and transformed in Mughal India. In the seventeenth century, however, artistic exchange between Iran and India began to flow in both directions—a topic that has received relatively little scholarly attention. While Mughal painters, and particularly those in the Deccan, drew upon Safavid pictorial traditions, Persian artists became equally fascinated with Indian style and subject matter, which they appropriated to create a new and highly idiosyncratic visual language.

This lecture will examine the relationship of Safavid, Mughal, and Deccani art in the seventeenth century in a broader historical, cultural and economic context.