Conceit of the Globe in Mughal Visual Practice RAMASWAMY

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Conceit of the Globe in Mughal Visual PracticeAuthor(s): Sumathi RamaswamySource: Comparative Studies in Society and History, Vol. 49, No. 4 (Oct., 2007), pp. 751-782Published by: Cambridge University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4497706 .

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Comparative

tudies n

Society

nd

History

007;49(4):751

782.

0010-4175/07

15.00

U'-

007

ociety

or

omparative

tudy

f

ociety

nd

History

DOI:

10.1017/S0010417507000758

Conceit ftheGlobe nMughalVisual

Practice

SUMATHI

RAMASWAMY

History,

niversity

f

Michigan

When

became

king,

t

occurredo me

to

changemy

name

..

An

nspiration

rom

he

hidden

orld

rought

t nto

my

mind

hat,

nasmuch

s the

usinessf

kings

s

the

on-

trolling

f

he

world,

should

ivemyself

he ame

f

Jahangir

world-seizer]

nd

make

my

itlef

honor

ur d-Din

light

f

he

aith],

ince

my

itting

n

he

hrone

oincided

with

he

ising

nd

hining

n

the arth

f he

reatight.I

The

ncreasing

reoccupation

f

the

cholarly

ommunity

n

recent

ears

with

globalization

ppears

o

have

eft ts

mpact

n

postmodern

eographers

nd

historiansfcartographys well, everal f whomhaveturnedheirttention

recently

o the

history

nd

politics

f

the

mage

hat

s at

the

enter f

this ew

problematic,

amely,

he

terrestrial

lobe.2

As Denis

Cosgrove

notes

n

his

provocative

nalysis

f

cartographic

epresentations

f

Earth n

the

Western

imagination,

Whether

ictured

s a

networked

phere

f

accelerating

ircula-

tion

r as an

abused nd

overexploited

ody,

t

s from

mages

fthe

pherical

earth hat

deas of

globalization

raw

their

xpressive

nd

political

orce

(2001:

ix).

Its

very

biquity

s a

symbol

f

the imes n

whichwe

live

under-

scores he

reoccupation

ith

he

mage

f he

lobe

n

the ate

modem

magin-

ation.However,s Jerryrottonbserves,tspervasiveness ay lsopoint o

an

increasing

edundancy

f ts

ppearance

n

our

imes,

nd

the

mage

f

the

Acknowledgments:

arlier

ersions f this

ssay

were

presented

t

seminarst the

University

f

Delhi,

he

University

f

Chicago,

nd the

University

f

Michigan.

am

grateful

o

the

udiences

at all

three enues

for heir

omments.

hanks

specially

o Muzaffar

lam,

Susann

Babaie,

Monica

Juneja,

zfar

Moin,

Parul

Dave

Mukherjee,

arty

owers,

nd

Tom

Trautmann,

nd to

Ebba Koch

for er

ommentsn an

earlier raft.

am

grateful

o the

tafft the

American

nstitute

of

ndian

tudies

ibrary

Art

nd

Archeology)

n

Gurgaon

or

elp

with

ources ited

here. his

essay

s

dedicated o

Asok

Das,

gentle

mentor

nd

generousriend,

or

haring

is

knowledge

f

Mughal, specially

ahangari,

ainting.

otethat olorversions fthe

mages

nthis

paper

an

be viewed

nline t:

http://www.joumals.cambridge.org/jid_css.

Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri,

,2-3,

entry

or 4

October

605,

uoted

n

Okada 1992:

47.

2

Even

n

Western

urope,

eemed o

be the ite

of ts

invention,

he errestrial

lobe

as a

material

rtifact as

arguably novelty

rior

o the

ixteenth

entury,

ncient lassical

nstances

having

een

argely

orgotten

efore

Martin

ehaim's earth

pple

from

492,

he

arliesturviv-

ing xample

f theform

Stevenson

921).

751








752

SUMATHI RAMASWAMY

globe

has

suffered

hat

might

e called a

waning

f affect

1999: 73).

This

argument

eads

him

o a

study

f the

arly

modem

eriod

n

Europe

when he

terrestrial

lobe

first

merged

n

his

assessments

a

socially

ffective

bject

(ibid.:72).

In

his

Trading

erritories

1997),

Brottononsiders owthe erres-

trial

lobe

came to

not

ust

reflectn

increasinglyglobal

world ut lso to

constitute

t

over he

ourse fthe ixteenth

entury.

ts

power

ay

in

the deo-

logical epresentation

f heworld t

purported

o describe.ts ackof

cognitive

specificity

as not

tsweakness ut

ltimately

ts

greatesttrength,

ecause he

very

erceptions

f distance nd

space upon

which he

errestrial

lobe

rested

stressed

peculation

nd

conjecture

verthe xtent nd

possession

f distant

territories

1999:

87-88).

From the

earlyyears

of the sixteenth

entury,

even s theCopemican evolution asslowly ndoingmedieval hristianos-

mological onceptions

f the

universe,

errestrial

lobes

became

ncreasingly

crucial o the exercise f

state

power

n

Europe,

s well as to

the

surging

search for new

markets nd tradable

oods.

As

importantly,

s

prestige

objects,

lobes

and

maps

became

part

f a new

gift

conomy

f

circulation

and

exchange,

ndwere

ought

fterike the

pices,

epper,

ilk

nd

precious

metals o which

they] ppeared

o

give

directional

ccess

Brotton

997:

25;

see also Jardine 996:

295-309, 425-36).

In

the

process, hey

elped

ashion

new

bourgeois

modalitiesf he

elf,

mostly

utnot

xclusively

ale.Not ur-

prisingly,s Brottonotes, It supon he iguref theglobe, s both visual

image

nd a material

bject,

hat

many

f

the social and cultural

opes

and

anxieties

f the

period

ameto be

focused

1997:

21).

Accordingly,

evisionist

cholarshave

begun

to

critically

crutinize he

social and

symbolic ignificance

f the

erraqueouslobe.

As Brotton

oints

out,

historiansf

science nd

cartography

ave

hitherto

argely

ended to

reify

orld

maps

nd

globes

s

proto-scientific

bjects

ivested f

any

wider

social

significance,

nd have

imited he

ways

n

which

hese

bjects

ame

to

be

utilized oth

practically

nd

imaginatively

ithin

range

f

social situ-

ations

ibid.: 19).

Theserevisionisttudies

learly

nd

visibly

xtend he on-

ceptual

ieldwithin

hichwe

may

hink

he

globe,

ndwrite

bout t.Andthe

small but

growing

cholarship

n

cartographic

raditionsnd

practices

f

societies nd

cultures utside

urope, rior

o and nto

hemodem

enturies,

offers

antalizing

limpses

f nterest

n,

nd eventhe

manufacture

f,

erres-

trial

lobes,

owever

pisodically,

n

regions

ar

way

fromts

putative

ome-

land

n

the

West,

uch s theArab

world, ndia,

China,

nd

Japan. hey

lso

alert

us to the

mportant-but

requentlyorgotten

r

erased-roles

played

byastronomicalndgeographicalnowledgesrom ther arts f theworld

in

thenew cience f

cartographymerging

n

early

modem

urope

Karamus-

tafa

1992:

221-22;

Needham 971:

586-87;

Raj

2006;

Schwartzberg

992:

397-99;

Unno 1994:

390-92,

466-71).

Building

n

this

cholarship,

his

ssay

s located n

early

modem

ndia,

when theterrestrial

lobe

became visiblefor

he first ime

n

the

Mughal








CONCEIT

OF

THE GLOBE

IN

MUGHAL

VISUAL PRACTICE

753

court,

specially

ictorially.3

s Denis

Cosgrove

writes,

To

imagine

he

arth

as

a

globe

s

essentially

visual act

... Such

a

gaze

is

implicitly

mperial,

encompassing geometricurface o be explored nd mapped, nscribed

with

ontent,

nowledge,

nd

uthority

2001:

15-16).

To

masterfully

isual-

ize Earth

s an

integrated

otality,

spherical

ntityuspended

n the osmos

and

gridded

y

a mathematical

etwork

f latitudes

nd

longitudes,

s also

an

actthat

equires

n

enormous

eap

of

magination

hat oes

not ome

natu-

rally.

t has to be

learned

nd

n

a

disciplined

anner;

t s

hard-won

nowl-

edge,

map

knowledge

Wood

and Fels

1992:

5).

But once such

knowledge

seizes

thehuman

magination,

he

mage

f

Earth s

a

sphere

omes

o even-

tually eign

albeit

not

without

esistance),

or

t is a

figure

f enormous

imaginativeower Cosgrove 001: 3). InCosgrove's eading,To achieve

the

global

view s

to loose the

bondsof

the

earth,

o

escape

theshackles

f

time,

nd

to dissolve

he

contingencies

f

daily

ife

for universal

moment

of

reverie

nd

harmony

ibid.:

5).

He also

suggests

hat desires

f

ordering

and

controlling

he

object

of vision

propel

the visualization

f Earth

s

globe,

nd

that uchdesires

re

connected

s

closely

o ust or

material

os-

session,

ower

nd

authority

s to

metaphysical

peculation,

eligious spira-

tion,

r

poetic

entiment

ibid.).

Whilewe

may

never e

able to

grasp

he

full

xtent f

the

Mughal

nterest

n the terrestrial

lobe

brought

nto heir

court ysundryuropeans, e can charttscomplex isualtrajectoriess it

came

to

be

deployed

y

artists

n

the

mperial

telier

rom he

arlyyears

f

the eventeenth

entury.

Inspired

hough

y

thework

f Walter

Mignolo

1995:

219-23)

and

Laura

Hostetler

2001),

this

ssay

ets

ut

onot

ust

rack he

isual

usesof he

globe

in the

Mughal

ourt,

ut

o ask more

undamentally

hatdoes

a

postcolonial

history

f the

terraqueous

lobe

achieve?

I

suggest

hat such

a

history

compels

us

to

pluralize

nd

complicate

he

social and

political

ives

of this

icon

of

modemWestern

artographicractice

utside ts

putativeriginary

home

nthe

metropole

heremost cholars avedocumentedt.4As

important,

however,

s

that

postcolonial

erspective

eminds

s that he

history

nd

3

Although

he errestrial

lobe

was

introduced

nto he ubcontinent

y Europeans,

orthern

India as

ne f

he

ey

ites

or

he

roduction

f elestial

lobes,

nderhe

nfluencef

Arab

and slamic

cience,

romt east

he nd

f he ixteenth

entury

ntohe olonial

eriod.

ork-

shops

n

Lahore

anufactured

uch

lobes

abeled

n

Arabic,

ersian,

nd

anskrit

Sarma

994;

Savage

mith

992:

5-49).

or discussion

f metal

earth

all

bhugola)

hat

epresented

the

egions

f he arth

ccording

o

Hindu

osmological

onceptions,

eeGole

1989: 6.

Dated

to

1571

c.E.,

he

hugolaredates

he arliest

resentation

f

Europeanartographic

rtifacts

n

1580

by

Jesuit isitorso the

Mughal

ourt.While stronomersn

(Hindu)

ndiafrom t least

the

middle

f he

irst illennium

.E.

ssumed

spherical

arth,

he rthodox

eligious

nderstand-

ing

ollowed

he anskritic

uranas

n heir

onception

f

arths

being

ither

flatisk

r

n he

shape

f lotus

Pingree

990).

4

Kristen

ippincott

rites,

The

globe

s one of themost

requentlyepresented

bjects

n

the

history

f art

n the

modemrn

est,

et urprisingly,

here

s

very

ittle

cholarship

n

this

ubject

(1999:

76).

Her

essay

learly uggests

hat he

ppearance

fthe

globe

even

n modern

uropean








754

SUMATHI RAMASWAMY

politics

f he

lobe

as

concept,

pparatus,

epresentation,ign,

nd

ymbol)

s

it

travels

way

from ts

putatively

atural abitats

not

necessarily

mere

rehearsal

r

repetition

f the

paths

aken

n

the

West.

A

relocationo

regions

outside heWest

facilitates,

nd

a

postcolonial erspectivencourages

s

to

pursue,

he

challenge

f

understanding

ow

the

globe-this

much-touted

symbol

f

unity

nd

universality-might

lso

reflect

nd

constituteifference.

In

considering

he ifferent

rajectories

hat his

utatively

esternnvention

might

ake utside

urope,

am

not

ttempting

o exoticize

lterity

or ts wn

sake,

thereby

eproducing

Manichean

nd

Orientalist

ichotomy

etween

theWest nd the

Rest. s

Nordo wish ominimizehe

mportance

funder-

standingntersecting

connected

istories

f

earlymodem artographic

rac-

tice and scientificknowledge-productionhat recent scholarshiphas

underscored

Raj

2006).

Instead,

y demonstrating

ow

the encounter ith

the

globe-form

nables

t

east ne

part

f

the

non-European

orld o destabi-

lize a

Europe-centeredapping

f

Earth,

s well as

pluralize

ays

ofvisualiz-

ing

the

terrestrial

ealm,

his

ssay

positions

tself

within he

recent

ein

of

post-colonial

cholarship

hat

nsists

hat he

tudy

f

alterity

nd difference

contributes

o the

theoretically

ertile

roject

f

provincializingurope

(Chakrabarty

000).

The

principal,rovisionalmplication

f

myreading

or

a

revisionist,

ost-colonial

istory

f

cartography

s

that he

globe

itself-a

keymaterialignof a secularizing,lobalizing,ndimperializingurope-

provides

n

opportunity

or

onfronting

nd

opposing

singular eading

f

the

global

ivesand times

f this

universal

bject

nd

symbol.

AN EMPEROR'S GLOBAL DREAM

My entry

oint

nto his

ther

istory-and

he

nchor

mage

or his

ssay-is

a

much-reprinted

nd

much-discussed

ainting

y

Abu'l

Hasan

a.k.a.

Nadir

al-Zaman

The

wonder f the

epoch ]), rguably

hemostfavored

mperial

artist n the atelier of the Mughal emperorJahangirr. 1605-1627)

(Figure

).6

Around

618,

responding

o what he

painter

imself

eferso as

art annot e reduced

o a

singular eaning.

ee also Welu

1975

for

marvelous iscussion fthe

appearance

f

globes

nd

maps

n

Vermeer's

aintings

rom round 657.

I

followNatasha atonhere

n

my nderstanding

hat

Alterity

s

best

nderstoodot

hrough

the

narrative

isjuncture

etween wo

pre-existing

ssences .. but

hrough

he

ntanglement

f

unequal

imes-of

contingent,hifting

nd table

rderings

2004: 819).

In an

elegant

iscussion

that harts he

unpredictable

ffect f

ntroducinguropean

rt o ndian

ourts

n

the

ighteenth

century,heconcludeshat as theWestgets verywhere,hroughoodsandimages,.. stable

identity-formations

uto-destructo

produce

xcesses

f

meaning

nrecoverable

hrough

he

pro-

blematic

f

recognition'

ibid.:843-44).

6

There s much

published

n Abu'l

Hasan,

but ee

especially osty

1991,

nd

Okada 1992:

170-75.

Many

cholars,

ollowing

he

ead of

Milo

Beach

1981: 29-31), point

o the

growing

influencef

English llegorical aintings

n the

Mughal

ourt rom round 615 that

might

ave

inspired

hiswork.








CONCEIT OF THE GLOBE IN MUGHAL VISUAL PRACTICE

755

a

dream

fhis

mperial

atron

nwhich

ahangir's

afavid

ival hah Abbas

appeared

o

the

Mughal

uler,

bu'I

Hasan

painted

whathas beendeclared o

be one

of he

reatest

f

political ictures

rom

ny

ulture

Losty

1991:

81).7

In

Jahangir's

ream,

s

captured ictorially y

Abu'l

Hasan,

the two

rival

emperors

re shown

embracing

ach other

gainst

he

background

f

an

immense alo

composed

f a radiant un

and a

beautiful

rescentmoon

up-

ported y

two celestial

utti.

Numerous ommentators

ave noted hatnot

only

is

Jahangir ainted

ighter

nd

brighter

han his

dark-complexioned

rival

alerting

s to

the

prevalence

f a

non-European/pre-colonial

acial

economy

t

work),

uthe is also

bigger

han

he

Shah,

who

appears

rail nd

meek,

his armsunableto

grasp

the

majesty

f the

great

man he seeks to

embrace. n theother and, the ttitudef theMughal mperors that f a

great

monarch

enerously

atronizing

n

inferior

ival

Das

1978:

217).

This

impression

s further

trengthened

y

the

fact

hat

Jahangir

s made to

stand n

a

large

ionwhile

his Persian ival's eet

est

n a smalleramb.

Whatmakes his

articular

ainting

oundationalor

nyhistory

f modem

cartography

n

ndia s

that he

nimals

n which he wo

mperors

re

tanding

in turn est n a

partially

isible

globe

on which re

clearly

elineated nd

named he erritoriesverwhich heir

mastery

s

imagined

o

prevail.

hat

n

this

ainting

he

globe,

till n utter

arity

n

ndia round

618,

s not

entered

on Europebeginsto undermineheapparent uropean-nessf thisobject,

opening

up

possibilities

oran

oppositional

iography

o

emerge

orthis

Western

mport.8

s

telling

for this

oppositional iography

s

that this

much-touted

roduct-and sign-of

the

newly-emergenturopean

cience

(itself

nder

adical

reconfiguration

t this

ime)

was

drawn,

n the

eve of

that ontinent's

mperializing

nd

globalizing

ission,

nto

complex

ssertion

of

power

n another

art

f the

world,

s the

Mughal

mperor

dvanced

ege-

monic

laims,

lbeit

nsuccessfully,

verhis rival

Safavid's

erritory,eaving

Europe

hugging

he

margins

f the

picture

both

iterally

nd

figuratively).

Being

Jahangir's

ream hat s

pictorialized

ere

by

a

painter

n his

atelier,

the

Mughal's

erritorial

each s

represented

n

Abu'l

Hasan's

globe

s much

vaster.

he lion on whichhe stands

prawls

cross

a

good part

of Persia

(which

s labeled s such

under ts

paw)

as well as much fwhatwe

recognize

as central

sia,

part

f

theworld hat adbeen

under

he

way

fhis ncestor

Timur.n

turn,

heSafavid's ast

empire

s reduced

o

some

paltry

erritories

around

he

Mediterranean.

7

The

historical

ackdrop

was the

growing

ension etween he

ndian

nd Persian

ourts,

especially

ver hevaluablefrontierown f

Qandahar

hatwas

finallyaptured y

theSafavids

in

1622,

oon

after

his

ainting

as

completed

Okada

1992:

54-55,

170-75).

8

Lippincottevealingly

otes hat n

large

umberf ixteenthnd

eventeenth-century

utch

paintings,

artists

end

o

position

he

globe

n their

ompositions

o that henorthern

emisphere

faces heviewer

1999: 83).








756

SUMATHI

RAMASWAMY

In

Joseph

chwartzberg's

uthoritative

nalysis

f SouthAsian

artography,

one of thefew hat

onsiders

he erritorial

onfigurations

f the

globe

n

this

painting,ewrites:

There anbe no

question

hat

he

eneral

hapes

f

he

ortions

f

Asia,

Africa,

nd

Europe

ndicatedn

the

globe

..

derive rom

uropean

aps

... Butwithin

he

areaof

ndia,

he

delineationf

riversooks

ntriguingly

istinctive.hese

ppear

to be

notably

ore

ccuratelyligned

han n

roughly

ontemporaneous

uropean

maps-certainly

uch

more

o,

for

xample,

han

he

map

of the

Mughal

mpire

in

the 1625

edition f Purchas

is

Pilgrimes,

hichwas

copied

rom he

1619

map

rawn

y

William

affinn

the asis f

nformation

rovidedy

Roe ..

(1992:

409).9

Schwartzberg

herefore

oncludes hat

Abu'l

Hasan

musthave had

access to

all manner f

Mughalmaps

of the

empire

hat

ppear

o havenot survived

into he

present,

nd thatwe

know

virtually

othing

bout.

This much

s also

clear from rfan

Habib's

brief

nalysis

of

cartography

n

Mughal

India,

where

he

analyzes

seriesof

thirty-three

aps

of

the

Inhabited

uarter

(the

northern

alf f he

astern

emisphere)

hat

were ncluded

n

an

encyclo-

pedic

Persianwork

alled the

Shahid-i-Sadiq

inishedn

1647

by

one

Sadiq

Isfahani

f

Jaunpur.

abib, oo,

nfershat

sfahani's

mid-seventeenth-century

maps

are

much more detailed

nd accurate han

either

arlierArabic

and

Persianrepresentationsf Indianterritoryr contemporaryuropean nes

(Habib

1979).'1

Whilewe

know

ittle

bout

ther

Mughal

maps

uch s

Isfahani's o

which

Abu'l

Hasan

might

avehad

access,

we can

turn

o an

important

artographic

encounter

n

the

Mughal

ourt o

speculate

n

the onditions

nderwhich he

emperor's

aintermight

ave

gained

knowledge

f

contemporary

uropean

representations

ftheknown

world. refero a

fortuitous

eeting

t the em-

porary ughal

amp

n

Mandu n

9

September

617between

ahangir

nd

Sir

Thomas

Roe,

the

English

mbassador

etweenate 1615 and

early

619 from

the ourt fJames toMughal ndia.Having een nformedefore e setout

on his

mission hat the

greatMogull

made more

stimation fworld

maps

than

of all other

resents, '

oe

gifted

he

emperor

a

fairebook well

bounded,

illeted

nd

gilt,

Mercators

sic]

last edition f

the

maps

of the

9

Schwartzberg

entionshat

mong

heSouth

Asian

place-names

nscribed

n

Abu'l

Hasan's

globe

re

Multan, ahore, elhi,

Agra,

Kuch,

Purb, alcutta,

ac

Kingdom,

urat,

ijapur,

oa,

Golkonda,

nd Karnataka.All

are

reasonably

ell

placed

nd

easily

dentified,

ith he

possible

exception

f

Kuch,

Mac

Kingdom,

nd

Purb. uch

may ignify

he

arge

Koch ribe f

northeastern

India

or the

tymologically

elated tate f Cooch

Behar.Mac

Kingdomresumably

elates o the

then

eigning

ac

dynasty

fVietnam.urb,which

ignifies

ast,

as noobvious

oponymic

efer-

ent.

Judging

rom he

osition

f

Bijapur

nd

Golkonda,

he

ong

iver

xtending

cross

eninsular

India s

theKrishna

1992: 410).

o10

On

Sadiq

Isfahani,

ee also Gole

1989:

28-29, 82-87,

and

Schwartzberg

992:

390-91,

400-5.

Quoted

n

Beach and Koch 1997: 139. For

othernstancesn which

maps

were

gifted

o the

Emperor,

ee Foster 990:

44-45,

84.








CONCEIT

OF THE GLOBE IN MUGHAL VISUAL PRACTICE

757

world;

which

presented

ith n

excuse

that

had

nothing

orthy,

utto a

greatking offered

he

world,

n whichhe had

so

great

nd rich a

part

(Foster 990:380,my mphasis).12

n

being

offeredheworld

n this arto-

graphic

manner,

the

King

ooke n

great

ourtesie,

ften

aying

ishand n his

breast,

nd

answering: verything

hat ame from

mee was welcome

ibid.).

However,

t is clear

that,

wo weeks

ater,

n 25

September,

his

particular

English

gift

was not all thatwelcome.

turn o Roe's

Journal,

where he

entry

or his

ay

reads,

The

King,

hearing

hat had been sicke nd

wished

for

wine,

gave

me five

bottles,

nd

commanded,

hen

had ended

hose,

o

send

forfive

more,

nd so

as I wanted: nd a

fat

hogge,

he fattest ever

saw

... I tooke his s a

signe

of

favour,

nd I am sure

n that ourt t s

a

great ne. Then he sentfor hemap-booke,nd toldmehad had shewed t

his

mulaies,

nd no mancouldreade

norunderstand

t; therefore,

f

would,

I shouldhave

t

againe.

answered:

t his

pleasure;

nd so

it was returned

(Ibid.:

392).13

Roe himself as

nothing

ore

o

say

on eitherhe

presentation

fMercator's

Atlas

o

Jahangir,

he

mperor's

ssessment

fthe

ift,

r

the

ubsequent

eturn

ofthe

map

booke. But

his

chaplain

dward

erry

rites

bout

twith sense

of

displeasure

ut lso

barely-hidden

atisfaction:

TheMogol eedsnd easts imselfithhisonceit,hat e sConquerorf heWorld;

and

hereforeconceive

hat ewas roubled

pon

time,

hen

my

ord

Ambassador,

having

usiness

ith im

and

upon

hose

erms

heres no

coming

nto

hat

ing

empty

anded,

ithoutome

resent

r

other)

.. and

having

tthat ime

othing

eft

12

Roe

might

ave been

referring

o the

1613 edition f theAtlas

n this ontext

Gascoigne

1971:

149).

f

o,

this s the irstdition

hat lso ncluded double

ortrait

eaturing

othMercator

andJodocus

Hondius

thepublisher

ho

cquired

he

lates

or heAtlas n

1604) itting

t

a

table,

their

ands

holding

ividers

oised

vermountederrestrial

lobes

Crane

002:

facing

15).

For

recent iscussions f

Roe's mission o the

Mughal

ourt,

ee

especially

Mitchell

2000)

and

Sub-

rahmanyam2002). Significantly.eitherftheseworks ttendso the artographicncounterea-

turing

ercator's

tlas.

1

Titled

tlas ive

Cosmographicae

editationes

e Fabrica

Mundi

tFabricati

igura

Atlas,

or

cosmographic

editationsn the abric f

heworld nd the

igure

f he

fabrick'd),

ercator's

influentialork

was first

ublished

n ts

ntirety

n 1595

n

Duisburg

ndwent nto everal ditions

over

he ourse fthenext

entury.

here re everal

ine tudies

fMercatorndthe

mpact

f

his

Atlas

n

European eographical

hought

nd

cartographic

ractice,

ut

ee

especially

rane 002

and

Taylor

004.

Dennis

Cosgrove

as

commented

n the ision

f

European lobal

erritoriality

inauguratedy

tlases ike

Mercator's,adically

e-centereds

thesewere n

Europe

2001:

131-

33).

Jerry

rotton as

complicated

hewell-established

rgument

hatMercator's

rojection

akes

Europe ppear arger

han

t

ctually

s,

especially

nrelationo the

quatorial

egions

1997:

153-

69).

The 1569

world

map

n which

heMercator

rojection

irst

ppeared ignifieseographically

and

politically

he

triumph

f theWest t the xpense f the est,speciallyheOrientBrotton

1997:

169).

n

addition

o the

maps

ftheworld nd

ofthevarious

ontinents,

he

itle

age

ofthe

Atlasfeatures seated

Atlas

holding globe

with nothererrestrial

loberesting

eside

him.The

frontispiece

or heAtlas s a

strikingngraving

1574)

by

Frans

Hogenberg

f Mercator

ith is

hand

n a terrestrial

lobe

half

overing

land dentifiable

s the

Americas,

hile he ther olds

pair

of dividers

Figure

).

While

we know

nothing

bout he

mpact

f these

ictures

n either

Jahangir

r

his

telier,

t s worth

oting

heir

isible

resence

nthe

gifted-and-then-returned

tlas.








758

SUMATHI RAMASWAMY

which e

thought

it o

give

him,

resented

im

withMercators

sic]

great

ook

f

Cosmography

which

heAmbassadorad

brought

hitheror isown

use),

telling

the

Mogol

hathat ook

escribedhe our

arts

f he

world,

nd ll several

ountreys

in hemontained.heMogol t he irsteem'd obe muchaken itht, esiringre-

sently

o see hisown

erritories,

hich

ere

mmediately

hewen nto

im;

e

asked

where ere hose

ountreys

bout

hem;

e

was old

artaria

nd

Persia,

s the ames

of the estwhich

onfine

ith

im;

nd hen

ausing

he ook obe turn'dll

over,

and

finding

o more o

fall

ohis hare utwhat e first

aw,

ndhe

calling

imself

the

Conqueror

f

theWorld nd

having

o

greater

hare

n

t,

eemed o be a little

troubled,

et ivily

old he

Ambassadour

sic],

hat eitherimselfor

ny

of

his

people

idunderstandhe

anguage

n

which hat ookwas

written,

ndbecause

o,

he furtherold

im

hat e

would ot obhim f uch

jewel,

nd herefore

eturned

it

unto

im

gain.

And he ruths that he

Great

Mogol

mightery

ell

bring

is

action gainstMercator nd otherswho describe heworld, ut treightenimvery

much n their

maps,

not

llowing

him

o

be

lord nd commander

f

those

rovinces

which

roperlyelong

nto im

Foster

990:

82-83n,

my

mphasis).14

Terry's

eporting

f

he

eeminglynconsequential

ncounteretween

ahangir

andMercator's tlas choes

xamples

rom

ther imes ndother

ultural

on-

texts

f

he

antasies,

opes,

nd nxieties nleashed

hen he elf onfrontsn

image

f heworld

n

modem

artographic

rtifacts.15

n

ts

one,

t s

also

sug-

gestive

f

omething

hat ecomes ll

too

familiar

rom

ubsequent

enturiesn

its

nticipation

fthe

umbrage

hat olonials

ypicallyisplay

when henative

speaks

back. Others avenoted hat

Abu'l

Hasan's

provocative

ainting

adi-

cally

e-centeredn

Jahangir'smpire

ith

urope

onfinedo ts

margins,

nd

produced

round he

ime

f

this ateful

ncounter,

ay

be seen s an

mperial

retort-a

painting

ack-to thefamous

uropean

artographer

ho had dared

to confine he

greatMughal

o

only

small ection f theworld n his

maps

(Gascoigne

971:

152).

Such a

reading

s

strengthenedy

thefact hat his s

notthe

only

ime hat

Abu'l

Hasan

and

his

colleagues

esortedo the

globe-

form o

praise

ndflatterheir

mperial

master,

ndto

disparage

is

potential)

rivals, oth hemore raditionaloes ike he afavidsnd heOttomans,s well

as newarrivalsike he

Europeans.

rom round his ime ndfor

henext ew

decades,

under hedirect

atronage

f

both

Jahangir

nd

his successor hah

Jahan

r.

1628-1658),

the

errestrial

lobe

comesto be

deployed

n

some

of

the most

nnovative

aintings

f the

Mughal

telier.

t

is used

in

ways

that

14

Terryoined

Roe in

February

617 after he

atter's

revious haplain

ad

died,

ndreturned

withRoe to

England

n

1619 and wrote bouthis

experiences

n 1622 nA

Voyage

o East ndia.

15

For

another,

imilar ncounter

etween

ahangir'srandfather

kbar nd an earlier

tlas,

Ortelius's heatrum rbis

Terrarum hen he

Mughal

mperorpparently

askedwhere

ortugal

was, ndwhere isown

kingdom,

eeQaisar

1982: 148).

nanotherurasianontactone,Walter

Mignolo

uggests

hat

map

that

dorned

he

wall of

theJesuit ather

atteoRicci's mission n

1584 in

Canton

was

likely print

f

Ortelius'

Tipus

orbis

terrarum

1570).

Ricci's learned

Chinese visitorswere

seemingly

astonished

y

its

representation

f the earth nd that t

de-centeredhina.Ricci's own 1602

map,

which

e-centered

he

map

on the Pacific ndAsia

instead f the Atlantic nd

Europe,

demonstratesor

Mignolo

the

power

of the

cartographic

deviceof the movable enter

1995:

219-23).

See also note 4.








CONCEIT

OF

THE

GLOBE

IN

MUGHAL VISUAL PRACTICE

759

suggest

hat t became

an

intriguing

ew-fangled

ngredient

n

conventional

regimes

f

praise

nd dulation

n

the

mperial

ourt,

s well

s

for he ashion-

ing of the royalSelf and the visible assertion f imperial uthorityn

seventeenth-century

ndia.

And

yet, uriously,

hile several f these

paintings

ave been

skillfully

studied t

length y

historiansf

Mughal

rt,

he visual

appearance

f the

globe

in themhas

only

elicited ccasional

comments,

sually

o illustrate

the

growing uropean

rtisticinfluence

n

the

Mughal

ourt.16

requently,

the

globe

s dismissed s a

European bject.My goal

here,

y

contrast,

s

to demonstrate

ow the

Mughal

artistsmade it their

wn,

rendering

t

Mughalai.17

As for

historians,

ncluding

rfan

abib

1979)

and A. J.

Qaisar

(1982), who have writtenhoughtfullybout Mughal cartographynd

science,

they

have

largely gnored

hese

striking xamples

of

an

early

modem

ttempt

rom ndia to

appropriate

rom

urope

he

representational

authority

o

map

the knownworldon and with

cartographic

nstruments.

Even the astute

Sanjay

Subrahmanyamgnores

he

gifting

nd return f

Mercator's tlas

n his

insightful

eflections

n how

one

may nterpret

uch

cross-culturalncounterss Roe's with

Jahangir

2002). Building

on his

work,

would ike o

suggest

hat oe and

Terry

ere oo

hasty

n

concluding

that

ahangir

nd his court ouldnotreador understandhe

new

cartographic

language

hatMercatorndhis

colleagues

were

eginning

ofashionndistant

Europe. propose

n what ollows hat ot

nly

did the

mperor's

rtists

rasp

thisnew

anguage,

utthat

hey

were

ophisticatednough

o

paint

back

n

response

n

alternative

ndmore

atisfying

ision nd

version,

ndto

skillfully

deploy

he

globe-form

n

support

f

agendas

hat

ad

ittle o do with

urope.

So,

although

he

globe's

universal

conographicegibility

as

been

noted

(Lippincott

999:

78),

I

am more nterested

n

ways

that hese

aintings

lter

its

meaning

nd

message eyond

what

might

avebeen ntended

y European

science, osmography,r rt ntheir articulareploymentsf tsformnearly

modem

ndia.

In therest f the

ssay,

herefore,

discuss

he

ppearance

f the errestrial

globe

n

a

range

f

visual situationsn order o elicit ts work s a

socially

and

politically

ffective

bject

in

the

Mughal

court. considerhow the

16

From

he

vast

orpus

f

scholarship

n

Mughal

ainting,

havefound

mportant

iscussions

of the

ppearance

f

the errestrial

lobe

n Beach

1981;

Das

1978;

Ettinghausen

961;

Findly

1992;

Leach

1995;

Okada

1992;

Skelton

988;

Srivatsava

000;

and Verma 005.

Ebba Koch's

essays,nparticular,renoteworthyor he ttentionhey iveto theMughal 'globe aintings,

andfor he

nfluence

pon

hem f acred

ictures

ntroducednto

arly

modem

ndia

by

Jesuit

is-

sions

Koch

2001;

see

also

Bailey

1999:ch.

5).

17

In this

egard,

his

ssay

harts differentourse rom recent

nalysis

hat sserts hat

uro-

peanglobes

ndmaritimeharts

slipped asily

nto

he

portraiture

fthe

mperor

n the

Mughal

court

Sen

2002:

64).

In

arguing

hat here asno

easypassage

r

traightforward

ranslation,

have

benefitedrom bba

Koch's valuable iscussion fthemanner

n

which

Mughal ainters

dapted

and

transformed,

atherhan

imply eproduced,

ovel

European

motifs

Koch

2001).








760

SUMATHI RAMASWAMY

globe's

calculated

isplay

Brotton

999:

82)

in

the

roductions

f he

mper-

ial atelier

may

mark ew

ways

f

marking

he

ingularity

f

he

oyal ersonage

and of

working

ut

complex

ocal

and

trans-regional

ssertionsf

power

nd

prestige.

t the same

time,

hese

paintings

etort ack to

Europe's

newly-

emerging ays

of

mapping

he arth hatwere

eginning

o

ncreasingly

ircu-

late

n

the

eventeenth-century

orld. hese

paintings

re lso

mportant

n

that

they

re

arguably

he earliest nstances

n

the subcontinentf the deliberate

visual ssociation f

the errestrial

lobe

with hehuman

ody,

nd

n

pictorial

presentations

fthe

elf.

They

an

help

us to

understand

hat

kind f Self he

Mughal emperor

as

seeking

o fashion orhimself nd

project

or

thers,

specificallyhrough

se of the

globe-form.18

hetherr notthese

paintings

representtheunrealistic antasies f a benigndemagogue Findly1992:

208),19

r

whether

they ivemeaning

o the

Mughal]

ream f

universality,

order nd

eternity

Mukhia

004:

86),

they ertainly

ffer hemost

triking

examples

n

ndiaof

historically-known

ndividuals

isually

resenting

hem-

selves

with

modem

artographic

rtifactss

part

ftheir

ublic dentity.

n

the

West romt east he

arly

ixteenth

entury

ntil

elatively

ecently,aintings,

portraits,apestries,

nd

photographs

how

monarchs, erchants,ravelers,

ur-

ghers,

nd educated

entlemen

n

the

ompany

fthe

errestrial

lobe.

t

s the

paradigmatic

isual conof

the

worldly

male)

self ntil he

past entury

Lip-

pincott

999).

Tellingly,

owever,

iven

he

regimes

f

mimicry

f theWest

that ometo be

institutionalized

n

colonial

ndia,

lite ndians

arely

sedthe

globe

in

theirvisual

self-presentation

n

portraits

r

photographs.

hese

Mughal

aintingseaturing

he

lobe

re

quite

recocious

n

his

egard

s

well.

To

return

o one final

oint

egarding

oe's

returned

ift, erry eports

hat

the ncounter ithMercator's tlas

destroys

the onceit n which

Jahangir

feeds nd feasts imself that e is

Conqueror

f theWorld.

bviously,

hope

o

suggest

othe

ontrary

n

this

ssaybydemonstrating

hat

his onfron-

tation

ith

eemingly

ovel

uropean ays

f

representing

he errestrialorld

enables

Jahangir

ndhis rtistso

re)present

im,

s hisname

uggested,

s the

world-gripper,

he

world-seizer,

he

world-holder,

he

world-king,

ndthat

his

worldwas not

necessarily

enteredn

Europe

r

matters

uropean,

s in

the

variousworks f art

being

mported

nto hecourt. ut n

the losed

circuits

of

Mughal

rtistic

ulture here ew

outside he

emperor's

ircle

f choice

might

ave

had access to

these

painterly

ssertions f

imperialordship,

e

must sk who and where s

theaudience hatwill

behold

him

as

master f

the

globe?20

Where ndwho s the

world hat

ahangir,

theworld

apturer,

18

Many

cholars ave

nsisted

hat

ahangir,

n

particular,

orked

losely

with is

rtists,

o the

interventions

f he

mperor

n

fashioning

or

imself

Self

hrough

ainting

annot e minimized

(see

especially hatterjee

.d.;

Okada

1992;

and Verma

005).

19

For other imilar

ssessments,ee Leach

1995: 353, and Okada 1992:27, 43-50.

20

AlthoughheMughal mperor

outinelyave away

paintings,ometimesy evenhis most

favored

rtists,

here s no evidence o

suggest

hat hesedramatic

ortraits

eaturing

he

globe








FIGURE The St.

Petersburg

lbum:

Allegorical epresentation

f

Emperor ahangir

nd

Shah

'Abbas of Persia.

Painted

y

Abu'l

Hasan,

a.

1618.

Opaque

watercolor,

old

and

nk

on

paper,

23.8

x

15.4cm.Freer

allery

f

Art,

mithsonian

nstitution,

ashington,

.C.,

purchase

1945.9.








?co~?

ii

LJ~lf

( ;i

~1~31111~8L~~ ?;C~j~llCi~sl~B~%

:.~~i~ :1qlPe~Bg~~~CI I I

3;g-a

XJ-:

?~S'

:I

gt~

I~t~q r r

~~J

::::

~i~~l~ ~?~~SZ~l~'BEIrs~~i~c~~

:::?t.

GERARDIER-CATrORISVPE-LMVNDANI

EMGJf

A NOkR

I)v0Y .Vf

ZT

SEX

-

AGTNrTA,SVI

E3RGLAT

PSVM

STVDII

CAVSA

s

INGEX1CV

v

rFRANC.

ROG,

CID.

I3.

LXXWV:

FIGURE

2

Portraitf Mercator

olding

nd

measuring globe.Engraved

y

Frans

Hogenberg

n

1574. From Atlas sive

cosmographicae

meditationes e

fabrica

mundi t

fabricati

igure,

1595.S0005093.

Royal

Geographical

ociety

icture

ibrary,

ondon.








FIGURE

Jahangir

hoots

Malik Anbar.

ainted

y

Abu'l

Hasan,

a.

1620.

Gouache

n

paper,

25.8

x

16.5cm. CBL

In 07A. 15.

?Trustees

of theChester

eatty

ibrary,

ublin.








FIGURE

4

Emperor

ahangirriumphing

ver

overty,

ttributedo

Abu'l

Hasan,

a.

1620-1625.

Opaque

watercolor,

old,

nd nk n

page,

3.81

x

15.24cm.Los

Angeles ounty

Museum f

Art,

Nasli

and

Alice Heeramaneck

ollection,

useum

Associates,

urchase

M.75.4.28.








FIGURE5 Durbar ceneof

Jahangir.

ainted

y

Abu'l

Hasan,

a.

1615.

Opaque

water

olor,

old,

and nk n

paper,

6.9

x

12.3 cm.Freer

Gallery

f

Art,

mithsonian

nstitution,

ashington,

.C.,

purchase

1946.28.








FIGURE The

MughalEmperor

ahangir

ithRadiantGold

Halo,

Holding

Globe.Painted

y

Abu'l

Hasan,

ca.

1617.

Gouache

with

old

on fine

otton,

10.5

x

143 cm.

Courtesy otheby's

Picture

ibrary,

ondon.








FIGURE a

(left)

haykh

u'in

l-DinChisti

olding

Globe.FIGURE

b

(right) ahang

by

Bichitr,

a.

1620.TheMinto

Album.

Gouache

n

paper.

)Trustees

f

heChester

eatty

21.8

x

13 cm. CBL In 07A.14.

Figure

b: 20.5

x

12.7cm.

CBL

In

07A.5.








FIGURE

The

Emperor

hah Jahan

tanding pon

Globe; above,

Angels

Bearing nsignia

f

Sovereignty.

ainted

y

Hashim,

629. Color and

gold

on

paper

25.1

x

15.8cm. Freer

Gallery

of

Art,

mithsonian

nstitution,

ashington,

.C.,

purchase

1939.49.








CONCEIT OF THE GLOBE

IN


769

or Shah

Jahan,

the

world

uler,

eeks o

address

hrough

uch

deployments

f

the terrestrial

lobe?

s

Europe

ven

istening

o

these

ssertions,

r

seeing

them?Moretellingly,iven

ts

marginal

nd

shadowy resence

n

therealpo-

litik

nd

everyday

ife of

seventeenth-century

ndia,

is

Europe

even

the

intended

udience,

r is this notherase of the

ppropriation

f a

European

artifact

or

pecific

ocal

and

regional gendas?

The

calculated

isplay

f

the

globe

n

hese

aintings

ight

ot ven are

bout

n

assumed

ubject-audience

that

as to be

readily mpressed;

hat oo s

part

f

the

onceit f the

globe

n

Mughal

visual

practice

hatwe must

onsider.

MUGHAL

GLOBAL CONCEITS21

By the time he terrestriallobe is drawn ntothe artistic ctivitiesf the

Mughal

court

n

the

early

seventeenth

entury,

t

had

begun

to

circulate,

albeit

pisodically

nd

ephemerally,

n

India. HarbansMukhia

has

recently

drawn

ur attentiono

a

tantalizing

ccount f John

rancis

areri

n

which

the talian

writes hat ecause

Aurangzeb

or

Alamgir)

elieved hathe was

lord f

three-quarters

f

the

world,

for his

eason,

e

carry'd

s his

particular

Ensign

Golden-Globe,

nd

had t nhis

Seal

2004:

60-61).22

While heres

scant

vidence rom

he

Mughal

rchive

hat

Aurangzeb's redecessors,

oo,

might

ave used the

globe

n this

fashion,

n a

tantalizingainting

ated o

circa 1639

and attributedo

Abid,

which

hows Shah Jahan eated

n

the

so-called

eacock

Throne,

mountederrestrial

lobe

s

prominentlyisplayed

in frontf and below

the hrone.23

e

do

learn, owever,

lmost

xclusively

from

uropean

ccounts,

hat

maps,globes,

nd other

artographic

rtifacts

were

sought

fter s

prestige

bjects

of

prestation

rom

he

timethe first

Jesuitmission

n

1580

to Akbar's ourt

resented

he

mperor

ithAbraham

Ortelius'

Theatrum

rbis

Terrarum,

The

Theatre

f the

World,

he first

atlas to have

made theearth

ortable,

hich

greatmany eople

assert o

be immovable Bailey 1999:

116).24

Around1611,FatherJerome avier

circulated

nthe

egimes

f

gift

hatwere ndemic

o

Mughal ourtly

ulture.

majority

f

Mughal

miniatures

ere

designed

s illustrations

or

manuscripts,

r wereretained

n

exclusive

lbums

called

muraqqa'

for

eposit

n

the

mperial

ibrary.

lso

important

o note s the

obering

ssess-

ment f

many

cholars

hat

many

paintings

re

now either ost

or remain

n-catalogued

nd

un-archived,

o

udgments

re

necessarily

rovisional

nd

contingent.

2

I

borrow

he

erm

conceit

rom

erry's isparaging

omments

uoted

arlier.t s also used

in

the

rthistorical

cholarship

o discuss

Jahangir's

llegorical

aintingse.g.,Bailey

1999: 141-

42;

and Leach

1995:

389).

22

For rare aintinghat howsAurangzebn the ompanyfa terrestriallobe, ee Schmitz

and

Desai

2006:

pl.

73.

1

am indebted

o

Asok Das

for

lerting

e

to this.

23

For

reproduction

f

this

ainting,ee

Binney

973: 100.

24

The quote,

ttributedo

an

admiring

ate-sixteenth-century

eader,

s from

rotton 997: 175.

The

Theatrurm,

irst

ublished

n

1570

and

themost

xpensive

ut lso thebest

elling

ook

n

Europe

for

he econd

half

f that

entury),

as

reprinted

ithminor

ariationsnd

additional

maps

several

times

n the decade between

ts initial

publication

nd its

presentation

o

the








770

SUMATHI

RAMASWAMY

describes ome

of the

decorations

hat heJesuits sed one

year

t the

Christ-

mas crib

n

Agra

s

including,

an

ape

which

quirted

ater romts

yes

nd

mouth,

nd bove

t birdwhich

angmysteriously

..

and

globe

f he

world

supported

n the

backs

of two

elephants

..

(ibid.:

123).

From at

least

November

615,

etterseceived

y

both he

English

nd Dutch

rading

om-

panies

from heir ervants

osted

n India record

equests

or nd

receipt

f

globes

nd

maps

ntendeds

gifts

or he

Mughal mperor

nd his

governors

and subordinates

osted

n

different

arts

f the

empire

Beach

and

Koch

1997:

139;

Habib 1979:

94;

Qaisar

1982:

35-36,

148).25

Seventeenth-century

uropean

ccounts lmost

lways resent

he

ighting

by

natives

f

these

artographicbjects

s

giving

ise o wonder nd

surprise,

and as we havesee from oe andTerry's ritings,osomederision s well.

Thus,

K.

N. Chaudhuri

eminds

s

that

avernierame cross omeBrahmans

andnobles

uzzling

ver wo

globes

presentedy

the

Dutch)

n

Varanasi,

nd

that

e

was

called

upon

to

point

utthe

position

f France

pon

them

1990:

35).

But other han uch

European

eportage,

here

s

hardly

ny

nformation

on how the circulation

f the

terraqueous

lobe

was

received

n

Mughal

India.This s

yet

nother

eason

hat

he

hirty

r

so

paintings

f the

mperial

atelier

eaturing

his

artographic

nstrumentre so

important

or

ny

history

of

how the

globe

comes

o

be

apprehended

utside

urope.26

A remarkableate-sixteenth-centuryaintingromheOttomanourt hows

several

men

tudying

arious cientific

nstruments,

ncluding

mounteder-

restrial

lobe

on

which

Africa,Asia,

and

Europe

are

clearly

delineated

(Brotton

997:

pl.

8;

Savage-Smith

992:

27-28). By

contrast,

n the

known

productions

fthe

Mughal

telier he

globe

does not

ppear

o havebeenvisu-

ally represented

s a scientific

bject

of

curiosity.

ndeed,

n

none of the

hitherto-documented

ughal

paintings eaturing

t

does

the

globe

ever

Mughal

mperor.

ts

magnificent

itle

age

shows

Europe

s

queen,

eated n a

grand

hrone ith

her

ight

and

n

a

rudderttachedo a

terrestrial

lobe,

nd

feminized

epresentations

f

Asia

and

Africa. he

atlas lso features

map

of

the

whole

world,

ndividual

aps

of the

four nown

on-

tinents,

nd

map

dedicatedotheEast

ndies

van

der

Broecke t l.

1998;

ee

also

Brotton 997:

169-79).

Susan

Gole notes

either

rtelius'stlasnor

Mercator's

ncluded

eparatemaps

f

ndia.

Their

ndia

Orientalisncluded

hewhole f

Asia,

ometimes

s far s

Outer

Mongolia,

which

hey

called

ndia

Extreme

1976: 50).

See

Minnisale 000

for

valuable

iscussion f

how

motifs

rom

European

maps

nd

atlases,

uch s the

Theatrum,

ound heir

ay

from

he ate

ixteenth

entury

into

Mughal

andscape aintings.

25

We

also

learn rom

nayat

han's

hah

Jahan

Nama

that

n

elaborate

eweled

orb

kaukaba)

was presenteds peshkash tribute,ift) o Shah Jahan n 1656 (Verma 005: 66). Jahangir's

reported

ejection

f

Mercator's

tlas s all

themore

emarkable

iven

uch

ccounts.

26

The

Mughal

rtist'

ingular

eployment

f the

globe

s

also

striking

ince t

appears

hat n

noneof the

provincial

ourts

where

uropeansresented

lobes

does

this

ppear

o

have

resulted

in heir

alculated isual

isplay,

venwhen

hese

ourts ere

rying

o

fashion

hemselvesn

oppo-

sition

othe

enter

y

ppropriating

itherto

xclusive

Mughal

rivileges

uch s

the

iewing

t

the

jharoka

balcony).








CONCEIT

OF THE

GLOBE

IN


771

appear

n

solation.

nstead,

t s

nvariably

isually isplayed

n

he

ompany

f

the

mperor,

ost ften

hysically

onnected

ohis

body

n somefashion:

e s

either

oldingt, tanding

n

it,resting

is

feet n

it,

or

waiting

o receive

t

from ither is

predecessors

r,

nterestingly,

romMuslim

holy

men.With

fewnotable

xceptions

hat will

flag

ater,

he

globe

visually ppears

nly

in

imperial

ontexts

where

the

Emperor nvariably

ccupies

center

tage.

This is

in

contrast

o,

for

xample,

ontemporaryurope,

where

ll manner

of

male)

grandees-navigators,

xplorers,

ea

captains,

stronomers,

eogra-

phers,

philosophers,

obles,

and

ambassadors-had

themselves

ainted

n

the

globe's

company,requently

o the

point

f

asserting

proprietary

ttitude

towardt

e.g., Figure

;

see also

Lippincott

999).

n

Mughal

isual

practice

on theother and, he errestriallobe ppears s an imperial rerogativear

excellence,

nd

oins

theranks f suchexclusive

ignifiers

f

mperial

over-

eignty

uch as

the

crown,

he

plume

r turban

rnament,

he

precious em,

the

falcon,

nd

the ceremonial

obe of honor

Okada

1992:

30-33).

Even

more o than hese ther

erquisites,

owever,

t seems o have been

exclu-

sively

dentified

ith

he

mperial ody,

orunlike

hese,

he

globe

s

never

shown

eing

handed ver

by

the

mperor

o lesser

ersonages.27

t

s

always

painted

s

an

object

f

mperial ossession,

ever falienationnd

separation,

as befitted

n

artifact

hat

might

ave ome

n

quite

handy

or

horing p

a

well-

establishedMughal onceit f theEmperor's erson s an embodimentf

Empire,

nd

in

this

ase,

more

han

he

empire-the

world tself

Richards

1998:

128).

The

imperial

rtist's

monopoly

ver he

globe's representation

o

the xclusion f

others'

apacity

o mimic

r

similarlyeploy

t

suggests

hat

the

Mughal

lone claimed

hevisual

apacity

o own the

globe-form,

nd the

world hat

t

purported

o

signify.

his is

the

most

triking

anifestation

f

the

mperor's

onceit

with

egard

o

this

artographic

pparatus.

Imperial

onceit

n

relation

o the terrestrial

lobe

is also underscored

n

these

portraitsy

the fact

hat he

emperor's

ody,

n

conformity

ith he

logic

of hieratic rts,

always

subordinateshe

cartographic

rtifact ver

whichhe looms

arge, educing

t

to an

entity

hat

s

literally

t his feet r

that e can hold

ightly

n

his

hand.How

muchmore

ffectively

nd

ffectively

could

his

artists

uggest

he

power

f their

mperial atron

han

by

visually

suggesting

hat

he

may

be

a man of

the

world,

o

to

speak,

but

was also

above t?

So,

in several

xamples,

n

a motif hat ecomes

ery

ommon,

he

emperor

s

painted tanding

n the

globe,

his feet

esting

ightly

n landfor-

mations

sometimes

istinctively

elineated,

ometimes

ague

and

unspeci-

fied)

marked

on its

surface

while his

body, elaborately ejeweled

and

sumptuously

lothed,

oars

gloriously

nto the cosmos. He is

frequently

27

In this

egard, he

globe s likethe

halo,which,

s

signifier

f divine

ight,

was

generally

associated n

Mughal

portraits

ith he

emperor's

ody

from

ahangir's

ime

n,

even

mperial

princes

nd

holy

men

nly ccasionallymeriting

t

Verma

005:

66).








772

SUMATHI

RAMASWAMY

shown

bviously xercising

is

ordship

ver

thers,

s

ina

portraity

nother

of the

mperor's

avorite

rtists,ichitr,

hich as

been

widely

nterpreted

s

Shah Jahan

eceiving

he

submission f a

Hindu,possiblyRajputprince

(Arnold

nd

Wilkinson 936:

pl.

63).

As this

portraituggests,

more s

going

on

in

these

pictures

han

ust

the

bestowal

f

a

cosmic

persona

n

the

emperor,

s the

globe

s drawn nto ll

manner fvisual ramas hat

is rtistsnacted n

hisbehalf. hemost

triking

examples

f these re two

paintings

ttributedo

Abu'l

Hasan.

n

one,

com-

pleted erhaps

round

620,

Jahangir

s shown

tanding

n

the

globe hooting

at thehead of a sworn

nemy,

heDeccani

Abyssinian

verlord alik Anbar

(Figure

).28

In

the

other,

enerally

ated o

1620-1625,

he nails downthe

cringing igureof povertypersonified hile astridea terrestriallobe

(Figure

).29

Both

paintingsonscript

he errestrial

lobe

nto

omplex oliti-

cal, moral,

nd

personal

nvisionings

f he

oyal

elf.

n

the econd

ainting,

carefully ainted nscription

ver

the haloed head of the

emperor

eads,

Blessed

portrait

f His

SupremeMajesty

who

dispatches

is

eager

shafts

into

Poverty

nd

who,

hrough

is rectitudend

fairness,

s

laying

ew foun-

dations or heworld. 30

n

Ellison

Findly's

eading, ahangir

s set

up

here

as

a

divinelyegitimate

onarch

uling

verall theknown

world,

ut one

who

additionally

as the moral

haractero

fight overty

ith

martial-like

justice 1992: 208), while n the 1620 effortythesame artistt is clear

that ven

though

e

may

be a

righteous

nd

ust

sovereign,

his id notmake

Jahangir

ess of a

warrior,

s

demonstrated

y

his

vanquishing

f one of the

best-known raves of his

time,

Malik 'Anbar.

t

is

telling

hat he artist

thought

t

significant

o enact hese

complex

isual dramas

with

he aid of

the

newly

ntroducederrestrial

lobe

s

imperialtage rop, ainted

ith on-

siderable ttentiono detail.

ndeed,

t

s hard o

think

f he nactmentfthese

dramas

withouthe

globe'spresence.

ther rtists

ppear

o have found

t

so,

for these two

paintings

ere much

mitated,

ccasionally

with

variations,

into henineteenthenturyythoseworkingor newpost-Mughallientele

(Das

1978:

226,

n.

35;

Desai

1993).

n

our own

times,

heir heme as been

carried

orward

n

The

Greatest,

y

the

talented

iaspora ainters

mrit

and RabindraKaur

Singh

in

England,31

nd in works

by

the Pakistani

Karkhana ollective

Imran

ureishi

t al. 2005:

87-89).32

That heknown nd nhabited

orldwas

iterally

tthe

mperor's

eet s also

visually

nderscored

n nother

uch-analyzed

ainting

ca. 1615)

ttributedo

28

Foranalyses fthis ainting,eeespecially as 1978:220-21; Leach 1995:398-405; and

Skelton

988: 179-82.

29

For

discussions fthis

omplex

ortrait,

ee Leach 1995:

400;

Okada

1992:

51-52;

Skelton

1988:

185;

and

Verma 005: 71.

30

Quoted

n

Okada 1992: 51-52.

31 www.singhtwins.co.uk/galpage2.htm.

32

Thanks o Saleema

Waraich

or

his.








CONCEIT

OF

THE

GLOBE

IN MUGHAL VISUAL

PRACTICE

773

Abu'l

Hasan.

n this

work,

Jahangir

s shown eated

n a

rectangular

hrone

under red

canopy,

ooming

verothers ssembled

n

his court nd

virtually

ignoringhem s he gazes beyond

them

o a distant

orizon,

while

his

unshod

feet

rest on a

delicately aintedglobe

placed

on

a

golden

stand

(Figure

).33

Although

bu'l

Hasan does nottrouble

o

name

theterritories

marked n

the

globe,

as

he does

in his

later,

618

venture,

e resorts o

another

nteresting

evice

o visualize

lobal

mastery.ahangir

s shown

arry-

ing

key

n

his

cummerbund,

hich its nto

he

keyhole

f

the

globe,placed

strategically

n what

Findly

dentifies

s

north-centralndia

1992: 206).

The

key

of

victory

ver

the

two worlds

s entrustedn his

hand,

reads

Abu'l

Hasan's

nscription.

hat he

mperor

s

shown

itting uropean

tyle,

literallyreatinghe world s his footstool, hilefiguresepresentingival

emperors

such

as

thePersian hah

and the

Turkish

ultan)

re

relegated

o

the

margins

f he

icture,

asbeenread

s

a

clear tatement

fhisworld om-

inance

Beach

1981:

203).

In Ellison

indly's

ords,

With

hewholeworld

t

his feet

nd

thefate f India

ocked

up tightly

n

his

hands,

e

occupies

he

central

osition

within is universe

1992:

206).

Thisconceit

f

having

heworld

t his

feet,

ts

key

n his

belt,

nd

potential

rivals istant

nd

foreignrranged

round

im n

a

manner hat

uggests

hat

they

re

paying

ourt

o

him,

s matched

y

another

n

paintings

n

which

theemperorightly oldstheworld-frequentlyeduced o a smallorb-in

his

capable

hands.34

he most

magnificent

xample

of the atter as also

been

declared

obe the

argest

nown

Mughal

ainting,

uctioned

y

Sotheby's

inLondon

n

October

995.This

was

also

painted

y

Abu'l

Hasan,

his

ime,

n

Mandu

ometime

etween

March

ndOctober

617,

roughly

round

he ame

time

s

Jahangir's

ateful

ncounter

ith heMercator

tlas.

n itthe

mperor

sits

n a

European-style

hair

with

magnificent

adiating

imbus round

is

head,

elaborately ejeweled,

clothed

but

with

unshod

feet,

holding

an

unmarked

rb

n

the

palm

of his

eft

and

Figure

).

Persian erses

ordering

the

picture

eclarehis

visage

as

world-illuminating,

nd note that if a

hundred

ings

ikeAlexander

ame o

the

World,

hey

would

ll

prostrate

hem-

selves

hundred

imes

t

a

glimpse

f his

face,

nd that the

kings

f

Rum

[Turkey]

nd Chinawait

at the

gate

Sotheby's

995: 74-83).

It has

been

suggested hat heabsence

of territorialarkers n the

globe representshe

33

For

analyses

f this

portrait,

ee

especially

as 1978:

217-19;

Ettinghausen

961;

Okada

1992: 56-58.

Dated

by

most

cholars

o

1615

and

painted

n

Ajmer

s

a

companion

iece

to

another

ell-known

ainting,

his

portrait

recedes

Roe's

presentation

f theMercator

tlas

to

the mperornd s arguablyhe arliest nownMughalportraithat eatureshe errestriallobe

(Findly

992:

206).

34

See,

for

nstance,

aintings

y

Abu'l

Hasan

done

n1623

Welch

t l. 1988:

pl.

13);

Bichitr

n

1620

Okada

1992:

frontispiece);

ashim/Ami

hand

n 1620

Arnold

nd Wilkinson 936:

pl.

61);

and

Hashim/Abu'l

asan n 1620

Gascoigne

971:

facing

15).

See also a

striking

ainting,

dated

o 1637-1638

and

by

n unknown

rtist,

hich

eatureshahJahan

olding globe

marked

by

what

ppears

o be the

quator

nd a series

f even oncentricircles

Topsfield

994:

pl.

13).








774

SUMATHI

RAMASWAMY

emperor's

riumph

verboth the

emporal

nd

spiritual

orlds

Sotheby's

1995:

79).35

In another

magnificentortrait roduced

round 1620

by

Bichitr,

hich

imilarly

hows he

mperor olding

he

globe

while

tanding

with his hand

resting

n the

hilt

of

his

sword,

an

inscription

n the

upper-left-hand

omer

of the work

declares,

the

key

to

conquest

f

both

worlds

s entrustedo

your

and,

alid-i-fath-i

au

'alam

bi-dast st

musal-

lam]

Leach

1995:

388-89)

(Figure b).

The

conceit hat he

Mughal mperor

as master f both

worlds-widely

interpreted

s

the

emporal

r the

visible

'alam-i-suri)

nd the

piritual

('alam-i-ma

navi)-brings

s

to

another

roductive

ole

n

which he

globe

s

cast

n

several f

these

paintings,

s it

comes o

participate

n

the

politics

f

what he rthistorian eremiahosty efers o as thedervish-orienteding-

ship

thatwas critical o

sovereignty

nd

rule

from

he thirteenth

entury

(1991: 76).

As

Simon

Digby

observes,

ufi shaikhsheld the

power

to

bestow

kingship pon

ndividuals

hom

hey

ncountered,

r to

foresee he

attainmentf

a throne

y

such

men

1990: 75).

In

the artistic

roductions

of

the

Mughal

ourt,

he

mperor

s

frequentlyicturedeceiving

he

blessing

andendorsementf

ll manner

f

holy

mendrawn rom ifferent

aiths,

ut he

globe

figures

specially

n

those

aintingseaturing

hwaja

Mu'inuddin

histi

and

Khwaja

Khizr,

who

occasionally

re

pictured

ffering

he

world tself

o

him.So, in 1620,Bichtr ainted beardedmanpassing heTimuridrown

to

Jahangir;

he rown

n

turns

placed

on a

globe

on which he

and

masses

are

indistinctively

arkedwhile

pride

of

place

is

given

to an

escutcheon

plate

urmounted

y

a

key Figure a).

Tellingly,

he

globe

s

inscribed ith

the stock

phrase:

The

key

to the

conquest

f the two

worlds

'alam]

is

entrustedo

your

and

Leach

1995:

398).

A

companion iece

o

this

ainting,

also

by

Bichtr,

hows

resplendent

tanding

ahangirolding globe,

once

again

with ndistinctiveerritorial

elineations. ut this

time he

crown s

missing

nd

he

key

hat

was

perched

top

he

scutcheon

late

s now

nserted

in the ock Figure b). In Robert kelton's nalysis,Clearly

Jahangir

as

unlocked he

ecrets f the

visible

nd nvisible

worlds,

ince,

s the

Regent

of

God,

he shareshis

Creator's

mniscience

..

(1988:

183).

The

bearded

shaikh as been

widely nterpreted

s the

welfth-century

hwaja

Mu'inuddin

Chisti f

Ajmer,

who Akbar

evered

nd

to

whose ombhe went

n

frequent

pilgrimages.

lthough

ong

dead

by

Jahangir's

ime,

Mu'inuddin

s

placed

within

he

ame

temporalpace

as

the

mperor,

rasing

he

enturies

hat

ep-

arated hem.

That t

s not

Jahangir

lone but

lso ShahJahanwhowished ohave his

overlordship

f

the world

ndorsed

y

other-worldly

en s

confirmed

y

the

several

paintings

n

the

mid-seventeenth-century

adshahnama,

which

5

I am ndebtedo

AsokDas for

haring

his

eference,

ndfor

iscussing

he

ainting

ithme.








CONCEIT

OF

THE GLOBE IN

MUGHAL VISUAL

PRACTICE

775

documents

heachievementsf Shah Jahan nd whichhas been

masterfully

discussed

y

Milo Beach and Ebba Koch

(1997).

In a

glorious

1656

work

attributedo a Kashmirirtist,hah Jahan s pictured isitinghe shrine

f

Khwaja

Mu'inud-DinChisti

t

Ajmer.

he shrines

painted

n

the

ackground

while

n the

foreground,

aiting

o

greet

is mounted

igure,

s

a

holy

man

offering

globe clearly

marked

with

various erritorial

ormations

Beach

and Koch 1997:

pl.

41).

The

figure

as been

interpreted

s the

mythical

mystic hwaja

Khizr,

n

emblem

f

fertility

..

[whose]

very ppearance

would cause

nature o become

green

nd lush

ibid.:

204).

Khwaja

Khizr

appears

n

other hah Jahani

eriod aintings

s

well,

playing

similar ole.

For

example,

n

a

imageby

Abid dated

o

1635,

Khwaja

Khizr

holdsout

an

orbtoJahangiroldingourtn theharoka viewing alcony) bovehim s

he waits o

greet

is on

Prince

hurram,

ho aterwent n tobecomehis uc-

cessor hahJahan

ibid.:

pl.

37).

The

emperor's

ominion-signified

ere

by

the

globe-seems

to

be

receiving

he

holy

man's endorsement

ibid.:

198-99).

Similarly,

n a

painting ecentlyublished

romwhat

s referredo

as

the

St.

Petersburg

lbum,

Khwaja

Khizr

offers he

elixirof

life in a

chalice

oised top globe.Waiting

oreceive

t

s a

figure

hohasbeen dent-

ified s ShahJahan's

on,

hah

huja, ecentlyppointed

s

governor

f

Bengal

(Akimushkin

996:

pl.

199).

I noted arlier hat he errestriallobe nMughal mperialisual racticesa

royalprerogativear

excellence,

nvariably

hown

n

association

with

he

emperor's ody

or his

wielding

f

authority

nd

power.Rarely,

f

ever,

s

anyone

other han

the

emperor

imself hown

handling

he

globe

or

in

contact

ith t.Even whenhis

sons

appear

n

the

ompany

f the

erraqueous

globe,

heir

mperial

ather

nvariablyccompanies

hem. he

painting

n

the

St.

Petersburg

lbum s

exceptional

n

this

regard.

he other

xception

n

the knownarchiveof

Mughal paintings

s when

Sufi elders are shown

passing

on the

globe,

or,

n

a clear mitationf

European

models,

elestial

angels

are envisioned

estowing

he

globe upon

the

emperor

Okada

1992:

pls.

31 and

246).

As we

learn

from

uropeanmissionary

isitors o the

Mughal

ourt,

ahangir

as

particularly

ond f a

painting

f

Christ

olding

an

orb,

and accorded

t

pride

of

place

on the walls of the

mperial alace

from s

early

s 1608

Bailey

1999:

134;

see also Verma

005:

131-43).

In

a 1640

painting

n

the Padshah Nama

by

Murar,

he

haroka

(viewing

balcony)

in

which

Jahangir

s seated is flanked

y Europeanpaintings,

mounted etween

hebrackets

upporting

he

roof f ts

gallery.

o the

right

of the mperial roup s the mage f theVirginMary,nd on the eft hat f

Christ

n his familiar

uise

as SalvatorMundi. t

is almost s

if

the avior f

the world himself s

endorsing

ahangir's orldly

ule

Beach

and Koch

1997:

pl.

38;

see

pl.

39 for similar

ppearance

n a

painting y Payag).

n

an earlier

ainting

rom

617,

whichhas been called

Jahangir

nd Prince

Khurram easted

y

Nur

Jahan,

similar

ainting angs trategically

bove








776

SUMATHI RAMASWAMY

themis-en-scene

Stanley

larke1922:

pl.

5,

no.

7).

And n a

joint

work f

Hashim nd

Abu'l

Hasan,

dated o

circa

1620,

youthful

hrist t the

ross

shares

he

frame

ith

Jahangir,

he

palm

ofwhosehand ests

n

an

orb

Gas-

coigne

1971:

facing

15).

Jahangir's

alo is muchmore

distinctive,

ven as

Christ's

mage

s

clearly

ubordinatedo that

f the

Mughal mperor,

ho s

placed

above himwithin

heframe f the

painting.

f interestere s

that,

s

in

similar

ortraits,

the sacred

person

s

depicted

n the same level of

reality

s the

living mperor,

nd

also that he

painting

ubstitutes

the

sacred

protagonist

f a

Christian

ainting

or the

person

of the

emperor

(Koch

2001:

10-11).

In his

nfluential961

essay

The

Emperor's

hoice,

rthistorian

ichard

Ettinghausennalyzed everal f the o-called llegorical aintingsromhe

late

Jahangiri eriod

to conclude thatthe

emperor's

losing years

were

marked

y

a

progressivereoccupation

ith

piritual

nd

mystical

oncerns

to the

point

f disdain

or

he

emporal

orld.

would ike o

complicate

his

reading,

owever,

y

noting

hat,

aradoxically,

hese

ame

years

f

apparent

withdrawalrom

worldly

ffairs s

depicted

n

the

paintings

f the

Mughal

court re also marked

y

the

ncreasing resence

f the terrestrial

lobe

in

the

artistic

roductions

f that

ery

telier.

ttinghausen

as not

particularly

emphasized

herole

played

by

the

globe

n

theconstructionf an

ideology

of Sufi-sanctionedingshiphat pparentlyrivilegeshespiritualver the

temporal,

he

mystic

ver the warrior. ut it is ironic hat he

terrestrial

globe-the

cartographic

rtifactnd

visual con thatwas

beingdeployed

n

early

modem

European

rt o

suggest

worldliness,arthliness,nd,

ncreas-

ingly,mperial

each-is mobilized

n these

Mughal

rtistic

roductions

o

rep-

resent he constitutiveole of the

atemporal

nd the transcendent

n

the

emergence

f a

new

mperial

elf

nd new

modalities f

wielding oyal

uth-

ority.

t

is also

important

o

recognize

hat

s this

newfangled

rtifact

oming

in

from

Europe

was

incorporated

nto an

older

regime

of the

moral-cum-politicalelationship

etween heSufi nd the ultan,tunleashed

a different

rajectory

or he

globe

n

early

modem

ndia

han

he ne

t

nhab-

ited

n

contemporaryurope.

While haikhs nd

putti,

ven

Christ

imself,

ay

be shown

ffering

lobes

to the

mperor,anctioning

nd

endorsing

is

sovereignty,

ahangir

as

fully

aware f the

power

f

demonstrating

he

egitimacy

f successionn

temporal

terms s

well,

especially

o

given

he

fraught

ircumstances

n

whichhe had

ascended

he

mperial

hrone. his warenesss

signaled

n

numerous

aintings

that how he rown rthe urbanlaspor a preciousewel beinghanded ver

from ne

sovereign

o

another,

ut t s

noteworthy

hat

he errestrial

lobe

s

incorporated

nto hesemore onventional

egimes

f transferf

sovereignty

(Okada

1992:

30-32).

Thus

paintingyAbu'l

Hasan nd

Hashim,

one

poss-

ibly

round

615,

hows

haloed

Jahangir,ichly

ttired

n

costly

lothes nd

valuable

ewels,holding

framed

ainting

fhisfather.

kbar,

ooking

ld and








CONCEIT

OF

THE

GLOBE

IN

MUGHAL

VISUAL

PRACTICE

777

fragile,

nd

dressed

n

pure

white,

olds

dark

green

rb

n

his hand hat

e

appears

o be

handing

verto

Jahangir

s

the

atter

azes

upon

him

Okada

1992:

pl. 27).36 Similarly,

n

a

painting roduced y

an

unknown

rtist

around

1645,

Akbar s on

display long

with

his

son and

grandson.

While

Akbarholds

an

ornamented

ewel

and

looks at Shah

Jahan,

who holds out

his hands

n

front f

him,

Jahangir

olds a

globe

on

which s

inscribed

cluster f

buildings;

e is in

the ct of

handing

ver

the

globe

to

his

son,

n

the same

way

as in the earlier

ainting y

Abu'l

Hasan and

Hashim

his

father as

depicted ffering

heworld o

him.37

There s a last onceit orwhich

mperial

rtists

esortedo

he

lobe

n

order

o

flatterheir

oyal atrons.

s

I

have

noted,

he

globes

hat

igure

n

these

aint-

ingsmay rmaynotdisplaydentifiableerritories.38very ow andthen hey

appear

s indistinctive

rbs,

ometimes

ith

band

unning

cross

hem,

tother

times

earing bjects

uch s an escutcheon

late

r he

Timurid

rown,

r

cup

bearing

he lixir f ife.

ntriguingly,

n

1629

portrait

y

Hashim

fShah

Jahan

done oon fter e succeeded

o the

hrone,

he

ruler

f

heworld s

shown n

top

f he

world,

hich s

n

urn

epresented

y globe

dorned

ith

wo

groups

of

holy

men,

ach

holding

crolls

n

which re

nscribed

prayer:

O

God,

pre-

serve his

ing,

his riendf

mystics,

n

whose

hadow he

eaceful

xistencef

men nfolds

Welch

t l.

1988:

pl.

62)

(Figure

).

This

ubstantiates

y

arlier

point bout he ncorporationf theglobe nto n older deology fkingship

sanctioned

y

Sufi

mystics,

ut

his

portrait

lso illustrateshat

might

e the

most

wide-spread

otif sed

by

mperial

rtistso

adorn

lobes:

he

mage

f

a

ferocious eastof

prey

dad),

usually

lion,

ying

own

peaceably

with ts

potential

ictim

(daanm),

enerally

lamb.Ebba

Koch has written

loquently

about his

magery

f

dad-o-daam,

nd

omments,

the

ower

ver

ad-o-daam

demonstrates

llegorically

he

ower

f he niversal

uler

ho

by

his

regal

har-

isma everseshe awsofnaturend

brings

nimical

ature,

he

ppressor

nd

he

oppressed,

o

a

peaceful

o-existence

2001:

116).

She

traces he

mpulse

f his

imageryack othe nfluencexertednMughal rtistsythe irculationfthe

title

age

llustration

f he

Royal olyglot

ible.Thiswas

printed

n

Antwerpy

Plantin etween 568 nd

1572 ndwas

presented

o

Akbar,

long

with

host f

Christian

mages, y

thefirst

esuit

mission o his court n 1580.Koch

writes,

the

Mughals

were

uick

o realize he

potential

f such

mages

or heir wn

36

For

nalyses

fthis

ntriguing

ainting,

ee

especially

as 1978:

147,

16;

Okada 1992:

27-

31;

and

Lowry

983.

37

Sotheby's

atalogue,

December

969,

ot

152.

38

Lippincottbserves hat uropeanrtistss well were oftenavalier,areless,nddisar-

mingly

nventive

ntheir

epictions

fterritories

n the urface

fthe

globe

1999: 83).

Nonethe-

less,

n

many

nstances

rtists

ought

o

picture lobes

and

maps

meticulously

n

terms

f the

distributionf

land and

water n their urface.

xamples

ncludeHolbein's

The

Ambassadors

(1533),

which eatureshe

historically

dentifiableehaim

lobe

manufacturedn

1492,

r Verm-

eer's

The

Allegory

f

Faith

1669-1670)

and

The

Geographer

1668)

that

eproduce

odocus

Hondius'

1618

production

Welu 1975).








778

SUMATHI RAMASWAMY

purposes

nd surroundedhemselves

ithChristian

ymbols

o

enhance

heir

aura as semi-divine

ulers... The success

f this

[motif]

n

Mughal

rt

was

based on the fact

hat t related

enerally

o therole that nimal

ymbolism

played

n

the slamic

ictorial

radition.. .

[I]t

represented

visual

xpression

of he ncientdea

hat

eace

mong

he

nimals as

brought

bout

ust

ruler-

above all

by

theKoranic

model f

rulership,

olomon-which adbeen

used

extensively

o

eulogize

Muslim

rinces

..

(Beach

and

Koch 1997:

137).

The

Mughal

artisticnnovation

ere,

generated ertainly

ith

he

complicity

f

their

mperial atrons,

ies in

deploying

he errestrial

lobe

s the

ground

n

which o

play

out this

golden ge

drama f

peace

and

plenitude

mong

he

beasts s a

sign

f deal

kingship

nd rule

Koch

2001:

1-11, 116-29;

Verma

2005: 67-71). WhatMignolo haracterizess the geometricationalization

of

space

that

modem

cientific

artography

as

beginning

o

inaugurate

n

the West

round he same time s

magnificently

ountermanded

y

such an

enchanted

magery

n

which

very

differentind of

dominions

asserted

(1995: 222-23).

In

early

modem

uropean

rt he

errestrial

lobe

s

in

many

cases

meticulously

ainted

o

as

to

signifyintended)

ominionver

pecific

er-

ritories

Lippincott

999:

76-77, 83;

Welu 1975:

541-44).

By

contrast,

he

Mughal

telier's

eploymentuggests

hat

very

ifferent,

nd

perhaps

ven

superior

ind f

empire

s enabled

y

the

ust

ndmoral

uler fthe

overeign,

oneinwhich he trongndweakcanco-exist,ne where he ionhassipped

milk

romhe eat f he

oat

Koch

2001:

19).

The

dad-o-daams a

visual

up-

plement,

dded

o the errestrial

lobe

o

hide, lur,

r even

rase he

delineated

territories

n its

urface,

s

perhaps

he

most

owerful

eminder

e have of an

emergent

artography

f

difference

nd

alterity.

GLOBAL

CONFRONTATIONS

Theterrestrial

lobe

s an

object

nd s

representation

as

only

ntroduced

nto

India

in

the

later

years

of

the

sixteenth

entury,

ut it

was

incorporated

within fewdecades nto hevisualproductionsf theMughalworkshopo

generate

n

aura of

grandeur

nd

singularity

or

the

imperial

atrons.

t

remained

hough

n

elusive

nd

exclusive

restige bject

until

well into

he

colonial

period,

when

missionaries

nd

colonial

ducators

ttempted

o intro-

duce it

into

he

schoolroom.

have

demonstrated

lsewhere

hat

he

native

nonetheless

ontinued o

put

this

pride

of

the new

European

cience

to

affect-laden

nd

enchantedses

alongside

he

more

rofane

nd

secular

asks

of

pedagogy

nd

ssertionsf

tate

ower

or

which t

was

dominantly

estined

(Ramaswamy 003).

For

now, owever,etmeconclude yreturningotwo f

Abu'l

Hasan's

paintings

iscussed

arlier o

point

ut

how,

ven

n

the

Mughal

century,

hen he

errestrial

lobe

first

ntered

ndia,

t

was

never

imply

aken

on

board r

circulatedn

the

manner

ntended

y

ts

original

reators.n

Abu'l

Hasan's

painting

f

circa

1620,

where

ahangir

s

envisioned

laying

he

Abys-

sinianMalik

Anbar

Figure ),

the

globe

does not

tand s a

sovereign

phere








CONCEIT

OF

THE

GLOBE

IN

MUGHAL

VISUAL

PRACTICE

779

unto

tself,

s

European artography

f the

day

would

have

t.

nstead,

ollow-

ing

lassical

slamic

osmological

onceptions

traced

y

ome cholarso

ran

and ncientabylonia,

nd

ventuallyerhaps

ack o

ndia),

t s made orest

on

an

ox,

whichn

urn

tandsna

large

ish ith cales.39n

nscription

n

the

painting

eads,

lmost n defiance

f the

purposes

orwhich he

free-

standingphere

as

designed

romhe1490s

y

men ikeMartin

ehaim,

Gemma

risius,

nd Gerard

Mercator,

Through

hedivine

elicity

f

the

Divine hadow's

oming,

he arth

s raised

p

on the

ish-bull,

zi

yumn-i

maqdam-i

ill-i llahi

amin

ashta

amk

ar

gav-mahi

Leach

1995:

00).

As Skelton

bserves,

The

ixing

f he

arth

n

place

s

oneof

he

mysteries

of God'screative

ower,

ndhe

quotes

romhe

welfth-century

ufi

oet

Farid l-DinAttar:At he eginningf he enturies,od used hemountains

as

nails o

fix he

arth;

ndwashed

arth'sace

withhe

watersf

Ocean. hen

he

placed

Earth

n the ackof

bull,

he

bullon

a

fish,

ndthe ish n

the ir

(1988: 182).

Similarly,

n

the

slightly

ater

painting y

the same

artist

(Figure

),

the

earthly

lobe

which

upports

he

grandMughal's

body

s

in

turn

upported

n the ack f

fish;

he x has

been

eplacedy

manwho

it has been

peculated

s

Manu,

who was saved

from

he

great

lood

y

Vishnu

n

his

first

ncarnation

s

Matsya,

he fish.This leads Skelton

o

suggest,

Under

heJust

ing,

hen,

ven

Hindu aws are

respected

1988:

185). nstead faccepting,rima acie, hat he arths suspendedn theuni-

verse ree f

external

upports,

hese

aintings

emonstratehat

oing

lobal

n

Mughal

visual

practice

id not

necessarily

meana

capitulation

o

European

worldviews

ut nstead

rovoked complex

ssertion f differencend

defi-

ance

through

hemediation

f

the

mperial

telier.

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nthe

widely

ead

hahnamah

y

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thank zfar

Moin

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oint

withme.








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