Prince with Attendants, Deccan, India, Circa 1670

gouache heightened with gold on paper, laid down on stout paper, borders outlined in colours and gold, margin with scrolling foliate motif in gold, prince leaning against a bolster seated on a terrace and flanked by attendants

This Muslim nobleman, though unidentified, is representative of the new class of rulers who obtained a level of independence after the conquests of the Deccan by the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb.  Their patronage of artists formerly in the royal Deccani employment led to a genre of portraiture which preserves qualities of both Deccani painting and the contemporary Mughal style.  The treatment of the trees and sky is akin to a group of Ragamala paintings produced in the Deccan.  Although the origin of the Ragamalas remains a matter of dispute, Mark Zebrowski has suggested that the paintings may be the product of Rajput artists living in the Deccan, (see Zebrowski M, 1983, figs.181, 182, 186, 187 190 and 191).