In the early eighteenth century, the Seu family conformed to the Basohli idiom. From when, according to scholars, did this style transform through a pre-Kangra phase, maturing into the Kangra style?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Middle of the eighteenth century
Option (1) Late eighteenth century — Incorrect. By then the change was complete. The most matured version of the style entered Kangra during the 1780s.
Option (2) Early nineteenth century — Incorrect. This is the time of Raja Sansar Chand (1775–1823), when Kangra painting had already blossomed.
Option (3) Middle of the eighteenth century — Correct. From the middle of the eighteenth century, the Seu family’s style moved through a pre-Kangra phase into the Kangra style.
Option (4) Middle of the nineteenth century — Incorrect. This is a full century too late. By then the style had long since developed into the Kangra School.
NCERT (2026-27): “Scholars agree that in the early eighteenth century, the style of the Seu family and others conformed to the Basohli idiom. However, from middle of the eighteenth century, the style transformed through a pre-Kangra phase, maturing into the Kangra style.” “Guler School …Guler artist Pandit Seu with his sons Manak and Nainsukh are attributed with changing the course of painting around 1730–40 to a new style, usually, referred to as the pre–Kangra or Guler–Kangra kalam. …The most matured version of this style entered Kangra during the 1780s, thus, developing into the Kangra School while the offshoots of Basohli continued in Chamba and Kullu, India.” |