Mewar and Bikaner paintings are known from their inscriptions and their masters. Consider the following statements:
(A) The inscription on Maru Ragini classifies Maru as the ragini of Raga Hindola.
(B) Inscriptions show that Mughal master artists worked in Bikaner in the seventeenth century.
(C) Ruknuddin’s style was an amalgamation of the indigenous idiom with Deccani and Mughal conventions.
(D) In the Maru Ragini inscription, Sahibdin is referred to as chitara, meaning ‘someone who paints’.
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → (B), (C) and (D) only
(A) The inscription on Maru Ragini classifies Maru as the ragini of Raga Hindola. — Incorrect. The inscription classifies Maru as the ragini of Raga Shri, not Raga Hindola.
(B) Inscriptions show that Mughal master artists worked in Bikaner in the seventeenth century. — Correct. Inscriptions show that Mughal masters worked in Bikaner in that century.
(C) Ruknuddin’s style was an amalgamation of the indigenous idiom with Deccani and Mughal conventions. — Correct. Ruknuddin, whose ancestors came from the Mughal court, blended the local idiom with Deccani and Mughal ways.
(D) In the Maru Ragini inscription, Sahibdin is referred to as chitara, meaning ‘someone who paints’. — Correct. The inscription calls Sahibdin chitara, and the act of painting likhitam.
NCERT (2026-27): “Maru Ragini …The initial part of the inscription found on the painting, representing Maru Ragini, classifies Maru as the ragini of Raga Shri and describes her physical beauty and its effect on her beloved. … Samvat 1685 is 1628 CE and Sahibdin is referred to as chitara, meaning ‘someone who paints’, and the act of painting is termed as likhitam, translated as ‘written’ since the goal of the artist was to produce a painterly equivalent to the written verse inscribed on the painting.” “Bikaner School of Painting …According to inscriptional evidence, several master artists of the Mughal atelier visited and worked in Bikaner in the seventeenth century. Karan Singh had employed Ustad Ali Raza, who was a master painter from Delhi. His earliest work represents the beginnings of Bikaner School, which can be dated back to around 1650. In the reign of Anup Singh, Ruknuddin (whose ancestors came from the Mughal court) was the master artist, whose style was an amalgamation of the indigenous idiom with Deccani and Mughal conventions.” |