Maharaja Abhai Singh of Jodhpur (r.1724-49) on horseback with attendants, India, Rajasthan, Marwar, circa 1720-30

Abhai Singh was the eldest son of Maharaja Ajit Singh, one of the most heroic figures in the history of Rajasthan, who brought Jodhpur back under the direct rule of the Rathores after the death of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb in 1707. Abhai Singh had good relations with Aurangzeb’s successor, Muhammad Shah (r.1719-48), and was at the Mughal court in 1724 when his father was murdered by his brothers. Muhammad Shah proclaimed him the next ruler of Jodhpur and Marwar.

Equestrian portraits of rulers and noblemen were a popular subject in Jodhpur in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Several Jodhpur artists had been trained at the Mughal court in Delhi but were forced to leave during the reign of Aurangzeb. One of the most accomplished artists to move from Delhi to Jodhpur was Dalchand whose work is known from the reign of Abhai Singh. A painting of Maharaja Abhai Singh on horseback with attendants, by Dalchand, dated to circa 1725, which is currently in the Mehrangarh Museum in Jodhpur, is illustrated in Crill, 1999, pp.38-93, fig.38. Another comparable composition depicting one of Abhai Singh’s younger brothers, Maharaja Bakhat Singh on horseback, attributed to Dalchand, which was formerly in the Sven Gahlin collection, sold in these rooms, 6 October 2015, lot 57.