Master artists of the Mughal atelier worked in seventeenth-century Bikaner. Which of the following pairs of a ruler and a painter is linked with the beginnings of the Bikaner School of Painting?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Karan Singh and Ustad Ali Raza
Option (1) Anup Singh and Ruknuddin — Incorrect. Ruknuddin was the master artist of Bikaner in Anup Singh’s reign (1669–1698). That is later than the beginnings of the school, around 1650.
Option (2) Aniruddha Singh and Tulchi Ram — Incorrect. Tulchi Ram painted the equestrian portrait of Aniruddha Singh of Bundi. This pair has no link with Bikaner.
Option (3) Karan Singh and Ustad Ali Raza — Correct. Karan Singh employed Ustad Ali Raza, a master painter from Delhi. His earliest work marks the beginnings of the Bikaner School, around 1650.
Option (4) Sawant Singh and Nihal Chand — Incorrect. Nihal Chand was Sawant Singh’s most celebrated artist at Kishangarh, not Bikaner.
NCERT (2026-27): “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.” |