Monthly Archives: April 2025

Regular

A STUDY OF LETTERS OF LEONARDO DA VINCI BIZARRE REVELATIONS, CONTACTS WITH TURKISH SULTANS AND OFFER OF HELP IN PROJECTS.

4 Comments

A STUDY OF LETTERS OF LEONARDO DA VINCI BIZARRE REVELATIONS,
CONTACTS WITH TURKISH SULTANS AND OFFER OF HELP IN PROJECTS.

Lisa Jardine, the late scholar from the University of London, writes:
“In a series of letters written around 1484 and preserved in one of his many notebooks, Leonardo reports to someone he calls Devatdar Kait-Bai, on the findings of a lengthy scientific mission conducted along the politically contested Turkish coast. (Was Leonardo there in Turkey?)
But Sultan Qaitbay was in fact the cultivated and culturally ambitious Mamluk Sultan at this date.”
It is understood that East and West were on the road to cross fertilization of aesthetics.

Leonardo da Vinci
Franz Babinger research
Leonardo_Bridge
leonardo-da-vinci-arundel-codex-1
Lisa Jardine
Venetian artist Gentile Bellini 15th century
Turk painter by Gentile Bellini
Sultan letter to Leonardo Vinci
Leonardo-3-1024×683
Sultan Bayezid and Leonardo da Vinci
Mausoleum of Sultan Qaitbay

The Renaissance art between East and West is being thoroughly documented and exposes the bigotry of some scholars, for some such exchanges put their arrogance to shame. One such brilliant artist was Gentile Bellini, who worked at the Sultan’s court itself. But the most amazing is exchange of letters between Turkish Sultan Bayezid and Leonardo da Vinci in 1502. The reply to Leonardo da Vinci is kept in the Topkapi museum in Turkey. It has been published too, and we reproduce same. A bridge is being proposed by Leonardo to bridge the Bay in Turkey. Modern scholars have worked on the design of the bridge and found it utterly feasible. In fact, the same design was actually used elsewhere, and worked well. It is strange that this did not work out at that time, otherwise it would have been another wonder of the world. The Sultan was apprehensive of the engineering, and did not think much of this “Kafir” as stated in the letter. But Leonardo had assured him that it would work. And it would have. History did not accept that.

But the influence of Islamic art prevailed on the West. For a discussion read our blog on the same subject, as:
http://blog.chughtaimuseum.com/?p=10247

POST SCRIPT ON THE LEONARDO’S BRIDGE:​

A bridge from Istanbul to Galata

It was a letter asking for employment. In which Leonardo also claims to know how to build windmills and pumps to extract water from ships. Then he talks about the bridge over the Golden Horn.

“I, your servant, have heard of your intention to build a bridge from Istanbul to Galata. And that you have not yet built it because it is impossible to find one who can build it. I, your servant, know how to do it. One would raise it to the height of a building so that no one can cross it because it is too high. I will do it so that a ship can pass under it even with the sails raised. I would make a drawbridge so that when one wants, one can pass to the Anatolian coast. May God make you believe these words, and consider that this servant of yours will always be at your service”.

Up to now, we always though that The bridge for the Sultan that he designed was too far ahead of its times to work on those openings. Due to the limitations of the building materials. It resembles the Calatrava bridge in Venice. And, even more, it resembles (in a small way) an existing bridge in China, in Zhaozhou. Built between 589 and 618 with a single arch of 37 meters and with a rise of 7 meter. Or several other Chinese bridges built during the Song Dynasty.

Regular

JOURNEY OF HUNDRED YEARS FROM LAHORE; TO CALCUTTA AND BACK  FROM 1924 TO 2024. RARE WORK ABDUR RAHMAN CHUGHTAI ON SILK.

5 Comments

JOURNEY OF HUNDRED YEARS FROM LAHORE;
TO CALCUTTA AND BACK  FROM 1924 TO 2024.
RARE WORK ABDUR RAHMAN CHUGHTAI ON SILK.

M.A. Rahman Chughtai participated in his first exhibition in 1920 at the Lahore Museum. On record it is there that all his paintings were sold. He was sending images of his paintings for publication, more so in Modern Review Calcutta, as well as others, like Prabhabasi. The first one got printed in January, 1917. His fame through these publications was spreading in the Art world. By 1920s his works were being exhibited all over India, including Calcutta, Bombay, Travancore, Mussoorie and other places. The big event was a planned exhibition of Indian Art at Wembley and a Board was constituted to select paintings for the same. We have the catalogue of Artworks exhibited at Wembley. The list does not include the painting which is subject of our present research. The work “Charm of the East” was acquired by the Prince of Wales Museum, Bombay. Our researched work is dated 1924, and can be anything. We checked catalogues of both Bombay and Calcutta. A lot of Chughtai Artworks are included there but not this one. It may be surmised that it was not selected for the show at Wembley by the constituted Board. The Indian Fine Arts Committee was appointed on 4th August, 1923, The board was composed of O.C. Gangoly, Lionel Heah, S.N. Gupta, and W.G. Solomon. In total selected 11 paintings of M.A. Rahman Chughtai for the Wembley show. Some must have been rejected. Descriptive catalogue points to three places, that is Calcutta, Bombay, and Lahore. The present painting under reference must have been struck out. Its travel journey seems not to be recorded by events.

On 6th February, 2025, I received an enquiry from Calcutta from a lady Soumitra Kumar Nahar, and interested in knowing about a painting left by her late father, Barun Kumar Nahar, related to M.A. Rahman Chughtai. Later I was told that:

“Based on our research, the work was originally part of the collection of Mr. Gopi Krishna Kanoria, who was born in Patna on May 9, 1917, and passed away on October 16, 1987. He was known for his significant art collection, particularly sculptures and paintings from Rajasthan and Central India. Subsequently, he sold it to Mr. B.K. Nahar, a renowned collector of Bengal School artworks in Calcutta.”

Yes, the painting was on silk, and was by my father M.A. Rahman Chughtai. I confirmed same. Lot of works are sent to me from India, but most are outright fakes.

The name of the painting:

There is a typed name for the painting. It was physically corrected with ink, from D to S, but in restoration correction removed. It normally looks like “Dawan at Hamaliah”, which is basically not right. As the type is obscure and the people there were not familiar with the language, It was presumed that the name meant Dawn, although it was spelled as Dawan in type. in my opinion it is “Sawan at Hamaliah”. What does that mean? “Sawan” means monsoons rain and wind. “Hamaliah” literally means the Himalayan mountains. In the painting itself the hanging stole is flying, as well as a bare chest covered with a damp clothed veil, also in the air. 

Date work
Restored Inscription one
Hand corrected S
MARC – Recto Sun
Rare Moon shot
The-Morning-Star
Fame 1917
Shakti Devta
Sawan at Hamaliah restored

The painting is on silk:

The usual working style of M.A. Rahman Chughtai is watercolour on paper. The paper is usually handmade paper of Whatman England. But in the initial period the artist did at times experiment  working on silk. His friend Mian Inayatullah usually painted on silk. The artist is known to have made curtains for close friend Pitras Bokhari (expressed in his letter) as well as lamp shades. A few paintings were done. A friend and neighbour had one of the works on silk, but his son in law had taken  the painting to the UK and the present location is not known. But most of the other works perished. The so-called controversial (actually not) painting “Poison Cup” was there with family of Mian Inayatullah, some years back. Presently  not known. The painting “Fame” made originally in 1917, and modified, exists with a Doctor in the UK, but may not be on silk. In reality this may be the only one Silk painting of Chughtai known to exist and this extremely rare in its existence. Others are open to speculation.

The work has the image of the Moon in it:

Normally due to deciphering of the name Dawan (which is Sawan) as Dawn, it was understood that in the work we see a rising Sun. Upto the best of my knowledge there is very little use of objects as Moon, Morning Star, and planetary correlations. I think there is no painting in which the Sun is shown, simply because the portrayal in Chughtai works is romantic, and subdued. Not as fiery as the Sun. Here we do not see the rising Sun but the sinking Moon. Even the colouring of same shows that. And it speaks of wind and rain on the Himalayan mountains and the figure enjoying the same with a veil covering her naked breasts. The clothes are not vertically done but literally flying in the strong wind. Enough said.

The figure in the work is heavily jewelled:

It reminds us of various paintings done by Chughtai Sahib on the subject of Shiva and Parvati. We use one work of Shakti Devta for same. Other works of Parvati exist of the same type. Not all can be shown here.

The whole episode is full of romance:

A painting goes from Lahore, at the Chabuk Sawaran home of the artist, probably by train, and reaches Cakcutta. It goes through a process of selection and lies somewhere. There is a record that there were eight Chughtai works with O.C. Gangoly and they were not returned. A harsh correspondence is there on the subject. Perhaps this was one of them. Then it gets into the hand of a collector and then it is passed on. And presently being restored, I presume by professional people. Yes, art dies many deaths. But at times it lives on. But as a creation it lives on forever. A Hindu subject by a Muslim artist of repute even then. It unites various nations. Art is a sign of peace, a sign of love. Let us engender this kind of love between our two nations. Yes, harmony will prevail!

Regular

UMRO BIN MUHAMMED SON OF QASIM AND LADI – A FORGOTTEN AND LOST GOVERNOR OF SIND

5 Comments

UMRO BIN MUHAMMED SON OF QASIM AND LADI
A FORGOTTEN AND LOST GOVERNOR OF SIND
THE LEGACY OF MUHAMMED BIN QASIM

I do not think we hear much of Muhammed bin Qasim at all. We only hear of the tussle between Islam and Hinduism. The character and life of the man is left uncertain. The love of Qasim and Ladi actually speaks of the rebellion of the women hood in Sindh at that time. When warriors were ordered to assassinate all women folks on the brink of Dahir’s defeat, the warrior attached to Ladi, actually hesitated, and Ladi jumped to the ground from the camel she was riding. In this way she escaped her husband’s (actual brother) wrath, and certain death. When she was saved by the army folks attached to Qasim, it was her luck again. And then Qasim bought her from those who had captured her and certainly it seemed the prophesy had come true. The prophesy was that Ladi would marry a Ruler of Sind and will give birth to another. Not that we believe in any such prophesy as being the truth. It was the love radiation between the two characters.

We are told that Qasim was so much loved, that they put a life size statue of Qasim on the chowk of their main city. But we have forgotten one more thing. The product of the love of Qasim and Ladi, the son born to the living couple. They named him UMRO, and he was brought up in Sindh itself. When Qasim was removed, as the new Caliph did not approve of him (different versions of his death are there), the situation in Sindh had changed after all. Historians talk of a grave of Muhammed bin Qasim in Mosul, here he was tortured at the behest of the new Caliph. This is contrary to the story given in the Chach-nama, which is obviously the floated legend at that time.

fight-for-sindh
qasims-time
Muhammad-Bin-Qasim

In any case UMRO was reared up in Sindh, and must have become popular with the people, as he became eventually a Governor of Sindh. We have not come across more material on him, but we will search for same, as there is evidence here, that the DNA of Qasim is still in Sindh to this day. It reminds me of a 9000 year old skeleton they discovered in a mining cave in Scotland, and after research in the nearby village (the entire’s village DNA sample was taken), they found a match to the DNA. A living person descendant of a miner 9000 years old. What fun it would be to discover a descendant of Muhammed bin Qasim in Sindh?

There was another son of Muhammed bin Qasim and he was named simply as Qasim. He was Governor of Basra for 15 years, and also reached a certain kind of fame in his lifetime. So one leaves for Arabia, the other remains in Sindh. There must be more about them in some archives. Suffice that Qasim did not conquer Sindh in the battlefield alone, he conquered the hearts of Sindh and that is why Sindh never became a Hindu nation again. Three cheers for the icon of all times!

Regular

QASIM AND LADI – A ROMANCE OF SIND

3 Comments

QASIM AND LADI
A ROMANCE OF SIND
All is fair in love and war

Everyone has heard about the story of the advent of Islam in this region. And everyone has their own view on it. Obviously for us Muslims, Muhammed bin Qasim is the hero, not because he was a Muslim, but he came in form of undoing wrongs committed here. The Muslim women who had requested to be rescued and how they were rescued by this young man, a mere 17 years old. Many ethnically bound here equate Dahir as their hero, for limited ethnic reasons. Here Qasim was the good guy, and it can be judged from his behavior here. No less that the people of SIND worshiped him as a hero and made a life size statue of him in the chowk of their major city. But here we are talking of a love affair.

The Queen of Sind was love smitten by the looks of Chach. Chach was father of Raja Dahir. Ladi was a product of a love affair. Astrologers had predicted that Raja Dahir’s sister LADI would marry a man, who would rule Sind with full might. A superstitious Raja Dahir ended the speculation by marrying his sister himself, to become that all powerful ruler. But that was not to be so.

Raja Dahir had given instructions for all the ladies of the Royal harem and wives of the courtiers to be beheaded immediately if defeat of the Hindu army was imminent. Warriors watched over these ladies and when the news came of their defeat, the slaughter of the Hindu ladies started by the Hindus themselves. Ladi threw herself from her camel onto those on the ground who were meant to behead her, and in this ruse, they were dazzled to the extent, that it gave time to Arabs to save Ladi from slaughter. The captors took her in their possession.

Muhammad Bin Qasim Masjid
Pir Pattho – Muhammad Bin Qasim Fort tower

Muhammed bin Qasim found out about the capture of Ladi, and sought permission from the Caliph in purchasing her from her captors (laws governed behavior). When the permission came, he bought her and made her his wife. The prediction was coming true. Ladi had seen the softness in the looks of Qasim, and Qasim had seen the demure of this exceptional lady. It seems love had happened at first sight.

The Chach-nama gives us flashes of incidents here and there. It also give us a flash of a sister of Raja Dahir ‘Bai’ burning herself and all the other ladies in a fire ritual in a room. It is not clear if Ladi and Bai are two characters or same persons. The death of the lady Bai is mysterious.

We are also told about how Ladi confused the warriors outside the ramparts by mounting a camel and in black dress going for a ride. It was considered a deliberate tactic in favour of the Arabs. If Chach nama had survived in full, we would have had all the information required, but even in the annals of one of the greatest battles in the history of the region, it is intermersed with a love story. The love story of Qasim and Ladi. The end is not known, nor we hear of their children. But it is a ballad for folk singers for all times.