The Mughal School dominated the scene of Indian painting from the sixteenth century. Through the courts of which cities did it do so?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Delhi, Agra, Fatehpur Sikri and Lahore
Option (1) Ahmednagar, Bijapur, Golconda and Hyderabad — Incorrect. These are the centres of the Deccani School, which flourished there from the sixteenth century.
Option (2) Chawand, Chunar, Amer and Nathdwara — Incorrect. These are places of Rajasthani painting: Chawand of Mewar, Chunar of the Bundi Ragamala, Amer of Jaipur, and Nathdwara, a Vaishnava centre near Udaipur.
Option (3) Delhi, Agra, Fatehpur Sikri and Lahore — Correct. The Mughal School dominated the scene from the sixteenth century through the courts of these four cities.
Option (4) Bundi, Kota, Bikaner and Kishangarh — Incorrect. These are courts of the Rajasthani Schools, which came into prominence in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth century.
Note: This topic was not named in the CUET 2026 syllabus, but it was part of the NCERT chapter. In 2025 and 2026, NTA also asked questions on topics in NCERT that the CUET syllabus did not name. So our mocks have questions from every part of the NCERT chapter, to give you enough practice. Read the whole chapter, not only the sub-topics named in the syllabus.
NCERT (2026-27): “Malwa School of Painting …The Mughal School dominates the scene from the sixteenth century through the courts of Delhi, Agra, Fatehpur Sikri and Lahore. Provincial Mughal Schools prospered in many parts of the country, which were under the Mughals but headed by powerful and wealthy governors appointed by Mughal emperors, where pictorial language evolved through an amalgamation of Mughal and eccentric local elements. The Deccani School flourished in centres, such as Ahmednagar, Bijapur, Golconda and Hyderabad from the sixteenth century. The Rajasthani Schools came into prominence in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth century, with the Pahari School following in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries.” |