YES, HUNDREDS OF MINIATURES LYING IN WESTERN COLLECTIONS – OUTRIGHT FAKES BUT LITERALLY NOT UNDERSTOOD FOR REASONS

YES, HUNDREDS OF MINIATURES LYING IN WESTERN COLLECTIONS
OUTRIGHT FAKES BUT LITERALLY NOT UNDERSTOOD FOR REASONS

Fake Jahangir miniature

Every civilization has particular problems. One of them is resentment of achievements of other civilizations. The underlying tone of all Hindu research is to undermine Muslim achievements, but so is the West obsession with proving outpour of Muslim civilization as hybrid and dependent on the West. M.A. Rahman Chughtai and his brother Dr Abdullah Chaghatai were brilliant scholars giving credit to where ever credit was due but a careful study of the Indian market and they knew where the fakes were being manufactured for Western consumption.

M.A. Rahman Chughtai writes in his book “The House of Taimur” 1972:

“It is a fact that these pictures have been produced under the guidance of Parsi and Hindu owners of the Antiquity shops running at Bombay, Calcutta and Delhi. Among the antiquarians, the late Mr Guzder has to be mentioned specially for it was under his guidance that the paintings were produced. His shop was situated at Taj Mahal hotel, Bombay and is still there. Mr Guzder died a few years back. In his life time his agents both Hindus and Muslims used to collect old paintings and manuscripts and other antiques from every part of India. Among the prominent were Hussain Bux and his brother of Jaipur and Mata Parshad from Lucknow. Besides this he had also engaged artists for copying and making fake pictures for him at Jaipur, Delhi and Hyderabad Deccan. These fake pictures have been painted to appeal to the mind of Western art collectors. The early numbers of Marg (a quarterly magazine of art) of Bombay contains some advertisements of these paintings for sale, which are still in possession of Mr Guzder’s firm.”

MARC 1897 to 1975

The baby cherubs were a favourite of the Western buyer and Mughal paintings abound with frivolous pictures of these baby angels. And scholars call it hybrid culture. Attached is an image of a naked Emperor Jahangir. If you look at the miniature you find lack of precision and faces of Jahangir and Nur Jahan expression less. The same routine naqashi and the jacuzzi fountains. No Mughal feeling to same and more of a Washer man Emperor, unlike dignity associated with an Emperor. The Chinese flask is there too. You call that Mughal. Ha Ha indeed! More on that later.

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