Scholars have traced changes in the Pahari style. Whose style conformed to the Basohli idiom in the early eighteenth century?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → The Seu family and others
Option (1) Artists of the Mughal atelier — Incorrect. Mughal paintings that reached the hill kingdoms influenced Pahari artists. Most scholars now dispute that artists migrated from the Mughal atelier. The early Basohli idiom is tied to the Seu family and others.
Option (2) The Seu family and others — Correct. Scholars agree that in the early eighteenth century the style of the Seu family and others followed the Basohli idiom.
Option (3) Molaram of the Garhwal School — Incorrect. Molaram belongs to the Garhwal School, which was influenced by the Kangra style of the Sansar Chand phase, not by Basohli.
Option (4) Kangra painters employed by the Sikhs — Incorrect. The Sikhs employed Kangra painters later, after the Kangra School came to the fore in the 1780s.
NCERT (2026-27): “The Pahari Schools of Painting …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. This abrupt transformation in style and beginning of experimentation, which gave rise to varied stylistic idioms related to different Pahari centres, is largely ascribed to responses by various artist families and paintings (especially, the Mughal style) that were introduced in the Pahari kingdoms.” |