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Court, Company, Crown: Indian Court Painting, c.1526-1857 - HOA00107M

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  • Department: History of Art
  • Credit value: 20 credits
  • Credit level: M
  • Academic year of delivery: 2023-24
    • See module specification for other years: 2024-25

Module summary

Court, Company, Crown: Indian Court Painting, c.1526-1857 considers the rich visual and material culture of South Asia from the arrival of the Mughals into the region until the British Crown took over much of what we now think about as India and Pakistan following the Indian Insurrection.

Module will run

Occurrence Teaching period
A Semester 1 2023-24

Module aims

Court, Company, Crown: Indian Court Painting, c.1526-1857 considers the rich visual and material culture of South Asia from the arrival of the Mughals into the region until the British Crown took over much of what we now think about as India and Pakistan following the Indian Insurrection. In any given year, the module might consider examples from any or all of the three overlapping: Mughal, para-Mughal, and post-Mughal traditions: Mughal, Hindu, and Sikh.

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should have acquired:

  • A detailed, critical knowledge of a significant number of examples of artworks made in South Asia in the period

  • A detailed, critical knowledge of the various, overlapping cultural contexts of these examples

  • A detailed, critical knowledge of the historiographic and methodological traditions associated with these examples

Indicative assessment

Task % of module mark
Essay/coursework 100

Special assessment rules

None

Indicative reassessment

Task % of module mark
Essay/coursework 100

Module feedback

You will receive feedback on assessed work within the timeframes set out by the University - please check the Guide to Assessment, Standards, Marking and Feedback for more information.

The purpose of feedback is to help you to improve your future work. If you do not understand your feedback or want to talk about your ideas further, you are warmly encouraged to meet your Supervisor during their Office Hours.

Indicative reading

  • Aitken, Molly. The Intelligence of Tradition in Rajput Court Painting. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2010.
  • Beach, Milo Cleveland, and Ebba Koch. King of the World: The Padshahnama. London: Azimuth, 1997.
  • Davis, Richard H. Lives of Indian Images. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1999.
  • Fotheringham, Avalon. The Indian Textile Sourcebook. London: Thames and Hudson, 2019.
  • Goswamy, B.N. The Spirit of Indian Painting. London: Thames and Hudson, 2016.
  • Haidar, Navina Najat, and Marika Sarder, eds. Sultans of Deccan India 1500-1700: Opulence and Fantasy. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2015.
  • Llewellyn Jones, Rosie, ed. Portraits in Princely India, 1700-1947. Mumbai: Marg Publications, 2008.
  • Milwright, Marcus. Islamic Arts and Crafts. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2017.
  • Mitter, Partha. Much Maligned Monsters: A History of European Reactions to Indian Art. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1977.
  • Schmitz, Barbara, ed. After the Great Mughals: Painting in Delhi and the Regional Courts in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries. Mumbai: Marg Publications, 2002.
  • Shaffer, Holly. Grafted Arts: Art Making and Taking in the Struggle for Western India, 1760-1940. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2022.
  • Strong, Susan. The Arts of the Sikh Kingdoms. London: V&A Publications, 1999.


The information on this page is indicative of the module that is currently on offer. The University constantly explores ways to enhance and improve its degree programmes and therefore reserves the right to make variations to the content and method of delivery of modules, and to discontinue modules, if such action is reasonably considered to be necessary. In some instances it may be appropriate for the University to notify and consult with affected students about module changes in accordance with the University's policy on the Approval of Modifications to Existing Taught Programmes of Study.