Read the passage and answer the question that follows.
In the sixteenth century, Bijapur produced a richly illustrated encyclopaedia dated 1570. Its miniatures adorn a remarkable little volume. One of its best-known pages shows a symbolic diagram of an auspicious throne, and the owner of the manuscript was a sultan who loved art and literature.
How are the women shown in these Bijapur paintings?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → In south Indian dress, tall and slender
Option (1) In south Indian dress, tall and slender — Correct. The Bijapur women wear south Indian dress and are tall and slender, like those in the Ragamala paintings.
Option (2) In northern dress, close to early Akbari figures — Incorrect. Northern dress close to early Akbari forms is the male costume of the Ahmadnagar paintings, not the dress of the Bijapur women.
Option (3) In the Bukhara idiom, like the Gulistan of 1567 — Incorrect. The Gulistan of 1567 is attributed to Bukhara artists, and a manuscript in the Bankipore Library, Patna, has seven miniatures in the Bukhara idiom. Neither is said of the Bijapur women.
Option (4) As dancing girls entertaining a royal gathering — Incorrect. Dancing girls entertaining the royal gathering are seen in the Golconda miniatures of the Diwan of Hafiz, not in these Bijapur pages.
NCERT (2026-27): “Bijapur School of Painting Paintings from Bijapur in the sixteenth century have a richly illustrated encyclopaedia known as the Nujum al-Ulum dated 1570. Among the 876 miniatures, which adorn this remarkable little volume, many illustrate weapons and utensils, while others the constellations. The women are shown in south Indian dress, tall and slender as those in the Ragamala paintings.” |