Observe the image and answer the following question.
The portrait in the image was painted in the last phase of Mughal painting. Into the styles of which schools did the Mughal miniature style eventually converge?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → Provincial and Company School
Option (1) Provincial and Company School — Correct. In the last phase the Mughal miniature style converged into the styles of the Provincial and Company School.
Option (2) Rajasthani and Pahari Schools — Incorrect. These are separate schools of painting with their own chapters. They are not the styles the Mughal style converged into at its end.
Option (3) Deccani and Bengal Schools — Incorrect. Neither school is named for the last phase of Mughal painting. The styles named are the Provincial and Company School.
Option (4) Rajasthani and Company School — Incorrect. The Company School is right, but the Rajasthani School is not named here. The other style was the Provincial School.
NCERT (2026-27): “Later Mughal Painting …The new political environment, unsettled regional kingdoms and threat of English ascendancy changed the art scenario of India yet again. The painters thrived to suit the changing patrons, their aesthetic concerns, choice of subject matters and visual language. Eventually, the Mughal miniature style converged into other styles of the Provincial and Company School.”
Bahadur Shah Zafar, 1838, Fogg Museum of Art, Cambridge, UK |
